Remembering Some Ministry Moments

I just started reading a novel, and the opening scene was a clergyman's visit to a dying woman.   The scene of being called to the deathbed of someone not likely to live very long brought back a couple of memories.  Whenever I recall these moments,  I do heartily laugh at myself,  because those moments never seemed to turn out the way I expected.

Truth be told,  despite being called into those circumstances,  I have never actually been present at the moment of death.   Believe me, I take the matter of death very very seriously, and always treated such matters with the greatest respect.

But for some reason,  my near-to-death experiences were, well........unexpected might be a good word.

A nearby nursing home called me at the parsonage to say that my parishioner, who was elderly and had been sick for a long time, was clearly not going to make it through the night.   Of course, I wanted to be there.   I went to sit with the dying person. At that time, I was not really experienced in those matters.  Of course, I said the Lord's Prayer and the 23rd Psalm.    After holding his hand, and praying, and reading some scripture, I didn't really know what I was supposed to do, nor what to expect.

After some time passed,  I began to get a little bored with myself.  So I started singing.  I am told by my daughter in particular that I am not a good singer.  I know that I'm not great, but I don't really think I'm all that bad.   And I thought that singing someone into heaven might just be a good thing to do. The heavenly angels surely would not mind my lack of singing talent.     I don't remember if it was my first song, or if I had been singing for a while.  But I sat next to the bed and sang.  I watched for signs that the elderly man was no longer breathing.

Then suddenly,  he opened his eyes and started talking, wondering where he was.   I just about jumped out of my skin, so startled was I!  He woke up.  And on top of that, he completely recovered from his near-death-illness, whatever it had been.  In fact,  as I recall, he lived for a number of years after that.

The same thing happened to me one other time as well....same circumstances.  Next time, it was a woman over ninety.  She would not make it through the night.   I went and did everything I could think to do.   She also lived for about five or six more years.

After that,  I hoped that no one would call on me for last rites,  because clearly I was a dismal failure at that!

Nor would I ever again dare to sing to anyone near death's door!