Being Mortal

I am reading a book entitled Being Mortal, written by Atul Gawande.  The subtitle is:  Medicine and What Matters in the End.

The book deals with the stark realities of aging and death---and what medicine can (and cannot do)  for better or worse.

The book is both moving and  insightful.  It is also very sad.  Many specific situations are cited about elderly people and their care needs, and the challenges to families, as abilities shrink.   All of the material in the book strikes me in a deeply personal way,  both from the perspective of the memories that I have of my mother's final years with Alzheimers, as well as from the perspective of  wondering what my own process of dying might be like.   I want to prepare for that in the best way that I can,  but reading this book reminds me of unpredictable the process of moving from independence to dependence, from frailty to disability can be.  There is no way to know what a person's process might be.

As I read about the elderly people and their resistance to being moved out of their homes and into assisted living centers, or nursing homes, that got me to thinking about how I feel about living in my (current) home.  And then it struck me---as much as I love this home, this house, as much as I enjoy living here and enjoying all the benefits of space and privacy, my own kitchen, watching the birds flutter and the grass grow, I realized that I have always felt that it is temporary.   In the end, everything is.

Tracing my own history reveals that the longest I have ever lived in one house is 13 years.  We have lived here for ten years now, which was my goal when we moved here. If we manage 4 more, I will have lived here more than any other home in my entire life.   That is surely a very different kind of feeling from someone who has lived their whole lives in one house, or 30 or 40 years.

And that kind of feeling of transience shows in our possessions.  Our furnishings are much more sparse than other homes I visit.  We do not own fine china, or have collections of treasures, or art.  We have comfortable furniture and a good solid bedroom set.  We have a spare bedroom for family overnights and a study with two computers.  I already know that none of our collective seven children are likely to want to acquire many of our possessions.  I am totally at peace with that.

The things that really matter in the end  (according to the book I am reading) are having a purpose, something/someone to take care of,  friends, companionship., having some control over our daily lives and choices.

In one riotous nursing home experiment described in the book,  every resident received a parakeet.  It was very effective in bringing life into their dreary existence.

If I end up alone, in my pre-assisted living, nursing home years,  perhaps I will acquire some furry friend.

A Mighty Force

I collaborate with Paulette Fry and together we create much music. In the past few years, we have created choral anthems and entire programs for Christmas, Pentecost, Reformation.   I write the lyrics.  She composes the music.  After that, a very talented choir director and choir bring the music to life.  Recently, Paulette asked me for lyrics for a song on the power of faith.   It will be special music in July.  Here it is.

A Mighty Force

Faith is a mighty force,

As powerful as the sea…

Faith can change world…

and transform you and me.

It only takes a small amount

No bigger than a seed,

To move a mountain, cure the lame, 

Or put a mind at ease.

Faith in God, can see us through

In the darkest of our hours,

Faith is a mighty force,

A daunting, awesome power.

Jesus said, “Believe in me, 

And you will be free,

of guilt and shame and fear.

I am the bread of life,

The shepherd of my sheep,

I know their voice and they know mine.

Believe in me, I am the vine,

Abide in me and you will find,

That I am the Way, the truth, the life.”

Faith is a mighty force

Yet a small amount is all you need,

To heal a child, or a disease,

To change the world, and greater yet,

To conquer the power of death.

For all eternity, for all eternity.

Faith is a mighty force

More powerful than the sea

Faith can change the world,

And transform you and me.

                                                                        Nancy Rehkugler, April, 2018

Easter Sunday Message for Children

I have something to show you this morning.

It is kind of dry and shriveled up.  Do you know what this is?

 

Yes, it is a bulb. It is not the kind of bulb that you put in a lamp to get light.   It is the kind of bulb that you put in the ground to get Life!  Out of this ugly brown thing, a beautiful flower grows.

I wanted to show you this today, because all of the Easter flowers in the church this morning come from bulbs.  Bulbs are a symbol for Easter.

Can you guess why?   You put bulbs into the ground where it is dark and they come out of the ground and come to life.  What does that make you think of?

It makes me think of Jesus in the tomb, who rose right out of death and into Life Again!

Let me share this lovely little Easter story with you this morning. 

Many years ago, Rev. Robert Barns was serving at a church in Philadelphia.  The church had just bought a nearby lot on which they planned to put a big parking lot.  A small patch of Easter lilies had been growing in the lot for the past few years, probably because someone from the church planted the left-over Easter lilies there.

The paving company came in and bulldozed the lilies.  Next they poured asphalt, then bulldozed over that.  Soon the congregation was using the new parking lot.

But the following spring, they began to notice something strange going on.  The pavement in the new parking lot was starting to buckle and crack.  Sure enough, the Easter lilies were poking up through the asphalt. ++

Almost every year, I see the same thing happen at the tennis courts where we play.  These delicate little yellow flowers push their way through the thick asphalt and blossom, which never ceases to amaze me.

And that is what Easter is all about.  Life is stronger than death.  You can bury life in the ground, but sooner or later, it will spring up once again.  Isn't that good news?

If an Easter lily can overcome a parking lot, imagine what you and I can do!

Thank God that Life is always happening!!