The other day, when I was volunteering at the hospital, I
found myself standing outside one of the rooms in the ICU. There was an old woman in the bed and four
doctors and nurses gathered around her.
I wanted to pray for her, but I didn’t want to interrupt what they were
doing so I took a prayer card and began to write a note to her.
Just then, one of the nurses came out to see what I needed, and I explained that I was a Spiritual Care volunteer and asked if it would be all right if I left a note for the old woman.
“Of course,” the nurse said, “the family will be so thankful.”
“How’s she doing?” I asked, as I wrote on the prayer card.
The nurse was silent and I wondered if I had overstepped. Maybe they couldn’t share her medical situation with me. I understood.
I was about to apologize for asking when the nurse said, “It shouldn’t be long now. Her family is on the way.”
I knew immediately what the nurse meant, but something in me just didn’t want to believe it. Maybe I had heard her wrong. Maybe she just meant that the woman was going to be transferred out of ICU. Maybe the woman was getting better, not worse.
But then I looked into the room and really looked at the old woman. She was lying still on the bed, her head bent awkwardly so that she faced the ceiling. Her eyes were closed but her mouth was wide open. Honestly, she didn’t look like she was dying, she looked like she was already dead. As I stared at her face, I just kept thinking about Jesus on the cross and Luke 23:46 which says that Jesus, “gave up the ghost.”
She seemed nothing but an empty shell, her spirit having already moved on.
I turned to the nurse. “Would it be okay if I prayed for her?” I asked.
“Yes, of course,” she said. She pointed to the others in the room. “They’re just talking.”
“They can still talk,” I said. “I can pray with them talking.”
I walked inside the room and stood at the end of the bed and then reached my hand out and laid it softly on the blanket covering the woman’s foot.
The doctors and nurses were still talking, but I began to pray, not raising my voice any more than a whisper.
But as I prayed, the room grew quiet and my voice grew stronger.
I don’t remember the words of my prayer. I know I prayed for the woman’s family and for the doctors and nurses, but I can’t tell you the words. But when it comes to prayer, God doesn’t need words. It’s not about the words, it’s about the intention.
Today is January 1 and we all begin the new year with the best of intentions, don’t we?
Now is the time for resolutions, promises to ourselves that this year will be different, that this year will be better. We’ll lose weight. We’ll exercise. We’ll declutter and organize. We’ll finally get our lives together. We’ll finally find that special someone. We’ll finally find that job that inspires us. We’ll go back to church and hope to find God again.
We hope for change.
Ten years ago, I found myself sitting in my car on New Year’s Day. I was parked in the parking lot of Barnes and Noble. It was a Sunday morning and, as my dad put it, I worshipped at the church of Barnes and Noble in those days.
I was unhappy. I didn’t know why. I didn’t know how to fix it, but I said a prayer right then asking God to make that year different. “It has to change,” I said. And then I left it in God’s hands.
Several months later, I found Hope both literally and figuratively when I walked into Hope Episcopal Church for the first time on Easter Sunday.
And I think it’s fair to say, my life hasn’t been the same since.
Our assigned readings for today are perfect for this time of year. We begin with Ecclesiastes 3:1-13 which reads in part, “For everything there is a season … a time to be born and a time to die … a time to weep and a time to laugh ….” Every time I hear these words, the song (sung by The Byrds) starts playing in my head.
These words are the ones that are most familiar to us.
But today let’s read a few more verses in this passage, verses 11-13, which read, “He has made everything suitable for its time; moreover he has put a sense of past and future into their minds, yet they cannot find out what God has done from the beginning to the end. I know that there is nothing better for them than to be happy and enjoy themselves as long as they live; moreover, it is God’s gift that all should eat and drink and take pleasure in all their toil.”
In other words, only God knows what our future holds.
And as frustrating to us as that mystery may be, we can also take comfort in knowing that God cares for us and wants nothing more than for us to be happy.
And today on the first day of the new year, on the first day of a new decade, we can be comforted. We may not know what the year has planned for us, but we know that God has us, walking with us every step of the way.
In Revelation 21:5, we hear that commanding voice from the throne of heaven saying, “See, I am making all things new.”
This is my prayer for all of us this day, on January 1, that God would work in your life, heal the parts that need to be healed, strengthen you in all the ways you need to be strengthened, comfort you and hold you, defend and deliver you, that He would do all these things for you as He remakes you, as He recreates in you, as He renews that right spirit within you.
The other day in the hospital, I visited several people in ICU. I saw that one woman who was nearing death, but I also saw another woman who was about to enter her new life. I stood outside the room as the doctor explained to the woman’s family why the woman was intubated, why she was still sleeping and what to expect in the coming hours. When the doctor left, I slipped into the room and introduced myself to the family.
“I’m Kendra,” I said. “I’m with Spiritual Care.” And just as I was getting ready to pray for her … she opened her eyes.
“Hey look,” her husband said, “she’s waking up.” His voice was filled with both joy and relief.
I handed a prayer card to the daughter and smiled. I didn’t want to take any of this moment away from them, so I quietly slipped out.
“For everything there is a season … a time to keep silence, and a time to speak.”
For everything there is a season.
May God make all things new for you for this year, for this season.
Amen.
Just then, one of the nurses came out to see what I needed, and I explained that I was a Spiritual Care volunteer and asked if it would be all right if I left a note for the old woman.
“Of course,” the nurse said, “the family will be so thankful.”
“How’s she doing?” I asked, as I wrote on the prayer card.
The nurse was silent and I wondered if I had overstepped. Maybe they couldn’t share her medical situation with me. I understood.
I was about to apologize for asking when the nurse said, “It shouldn’t be long now. Her family is on the way.”
I knew immediately what the nurse meant, but something in me just didn’t want to believe it. Maybe I had heard her wrong. Maybe she just meant that the woman was going to be transferred out of ICU. Maybe the woman was getting better, not worse.
But then I looked into the room and really looked at the old woman. She was lying still on the bed, her head bent awkwardly so that she faced the ceiling. Her eyes were closed but her mouth was wide open. Honestly, she didn’t look like she was dying, she looked like she was already dead. As I stared at her face, I just kept thinking about Jesus on the cross and Luke 23:46 which says that Jesus, “gave up the ghost.”
She seemed nothing but an empty shell, her spirit having already moved on.
I turned to the nurse. “Would it be okay if I prayed for her?” I asked.
“Yes, of course,” she said. She pointed to the others in the room. “They’re just talking.”
“They can still talk,” I said. “I can pray with them talking.”
I walked inside the room and stood at the end of the bed and then reached my hand out and laid it softly on the blanket covering the woman’s foot.
The doctors and nurses were still talking, but I began to pray, not raising my voice any more than a whisper.
But as I prayed, the room grew quiet and my voice grew stronger.
I don’t remember the words of my prayer. I know I prayed for the woman’s family and for the doctors and nurses, but I can’t tell you the words. But when it comes to prayer, God doesn’t need words. It’s not about the words, it’s about the intention.
Today is January 1 and we all begin the new year with the best of intentions, don’t we?
Now is the time for resolutions, promises to ourselves that this year will be different, that this year will be better. We’ll lose weight. We’ll exercise. We’ll declutter and organize. We’ll finally get our lives together. We’ll finally find that special someone. We’ll finally find that job that inspires us. We’ll go back to church and hope to find God again.
We hope for change.
Ten years ago, I found myself sitting in my car on New Year’s Day. I was parked in the parking lot of Barnes and Noble. It was a Sunday morning and, as my dad put it, I worshipped at the church of Barnes and Noble in those days.
I was unhappy. I didn’t know why. I didn’t know how to fix it, but I said a prayer right then asking God to make that year different. “It has to change,” I said. And then I left it in God’s hands.
Several months later, I found Hope both literally and figuratively when I walked into Hope Episcopal Church for the first time on Easter Sunday.
And I think it’s fair to say, my life hasn’t been the same since.
Our assigned readings for today are perfect for this time of year. We begin with Ecclesiastes 3:1-13 which reads in part, “For everything there is a season … a time to be born and a time to die … a time to weep and a time to laugh ….” Every time I hear these words, the song (sung by The Byrds) starts playing in my head.
These words are the ones that are most familiar to us.
But today let’s read a few more verses in this passage, verses 11-13, which read, “He has made everything suitable for its time; moreover he has put a sense of past and future into their minds, yet they cannot find out what God has done from the beginning to the end. I know that there is nothing better for them than to be happy and enjoy themselves as long as they live; moreover, it is God’s gift that all should eat and drink and take pleasure in all their toil.”
In other words, only God knows what our future holds.
And as frustrating to us as that mystery may be, we can also take comfort in knowing that God cares for us and wants nothing more than for us to be happy.
And today on the first day of the new year, on the first day of a new decade, we can be comforted. We may not know what the year has planned for us, but we know that God has us, walking with us every step of the way.
In Revelation 21:5, we hear that commanding voice from the throne of heaven saying, “See, I am making all things new.”
This is my prayer for all of us this day, on January 1, that God would work in your life, heal the parts that need to be healed, strengthen you in all the ways you need to be strengthened, comfort you and hold you, defend and deliver you, that He would do all these things for you as He remakes you, as He recreates in you, as He renews that right spirit within you.
The other day in the hospital, I visited several people in ICU. I saw that one woman who was nearing death, but I also saw another woman who was about to enter her new life. I stood outside the room as the doctor explained to the woman’s family why the woman was intubated, why she was still sleeping and what to expect in the coming hours. When the doctor left, I slipped into the room and introduced myself to the family.
“I’m Kendra,” I said. “I’m with Spiritual Care.” And just as I was getting ready to pray for her … she opened her eyes.
“Hey look,” her husband said, “she’s waking up.” His voice was filled with both joy and relief.
I handed a prayer card to the daughter and smiled. I didn’t want to take any of this moment away from them, so I quietly slipped out.
“For everything there is a season … a time to keep silence, and a time to speak.”
For everything there is a season.
May God make all things new for you for this year, for this season.
Amen.
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