In My Life

Because of the danger of COVID-19, our government has instructed people in their 70’s to self-isolate as much as it is possible.  I’m one of them.  They have also restricted visits to nursing homes to one person for one hour each day – that also applies to me.  For almost four years I’ve been visiting Glenys, my wife, who has dementia.  Daily I’ve been bringing fresh homemade fruit salad for her morning tea, taking her for rides in a wheelchair, getting her outside for a wobbly walk, and sometimes playing her favourite music.  But, yesterday, I felt it was time for me to heed the warnings and stop – for the safety of other residents and the nursing staff.  She wouldn’t have known it was going to be my last visit (for who knows how long), but I said a teary goodbye.

Not only does she have dementia, she was recently diagnosed as having some kind of cancer – determined by symptoms, not exploratory procedures.  It’s that unknown that made me think, “This could even be my last goodbye!” 

A few weeks ago, when we first heard about the cancer, I asked her, “Glenys, do you want to go home to heaven?  Do you want to go to be with Jesus?”  It’s not often that she answers questions, sometimes she does in garbled words, but that day she replied clearly, “Yes, I do.”

Here’s my dilemma, do I still go on visiting her on compassionate grounds, but risk the lives of others if I’m a non-symptomatic carrier of the virus?  Or do I take my cue from some of the *last words of Glen Campbell, who also had dementia?

You’re the last person I will love, you’re the last face I will recall
And best of all, I’m not gonna miss you, not gonna miss you.

Nick Cave’s grasp of the truth

For someone who claims, **I don’t believe in an interventionist God, Nick Cave has some very biblical insights in his songs.  Last night, randomly, I came across one I’ve never heard before: ***People Ain’t No Good.  What he sings is what he could have read in the Apostle Paul’s Letter to the Romans (3:10ff) in which we are reminded that there is no one good, no, not one.  We all fall short, we all miss the mark; that’s why we all need the love and grace of a merciful God.

**I don’t believe in an interventionist God
But I know, darling, that you do
But if I did, I would kneel down and ask Him
Not to intervene when it came to you
Oh, not to touch a hair on your head
Leave you as you are
If he felt he had to direct you… into my arms, O Lord.

***People just ain’t no good
I think that’s well understood
You can see it everywhere you look
People just ain’t no good, at all

Quotable quote

“Your conscience is a gift from God; and its voice must be heard.”
Colin Smith

A song for these times

It’s an old hymn that’s been re-tuned by the *Indelible Grace team and you can find it on youtube. Look for Heal Us (feat. Blessed Offor). It’s got the feel and sound of an old spiritual. Once heard, it will play in your head continuously.

It was by written William Cowper, who often suffered from bouts of clinical and spiritual depression. Fortunately, he had a best friend and encourager named John Newton who wrote Amazing Grace. It begins with this chorus…

Heal us, Emmanuel, here we are
We long to feel Thy touch
Deep wounded souls to Thee we fly
O Saviour, hear our cry.

At the *Indelible Grace website you’ll find all the lyrics, samples, and sheet music that can be downloaded; and they have much more to share for free.

Last time I wrote about turning ears into eyes, then, to my surprise I read something in my daily Bible reading that suggests that eyes can be turned into ears. Take a look at this from King David…

The heavens declare the glory of God, and the expanse proclaims the work of his hands. Day after day they pour out speech; night after night they communicate knowledge. There is no speech; there are no words, their voice is not heard. Their message goes out to the whole earth, and their words to the ends of the world. Psalm 19:1-4.

Do you see now how our eyes are turned to ears as we take time to watch and listen – wordless communication can be heard. Testimony is given, evidence is proclaimed and heard via our eyes.

This reminds of a quotable quote from Blaise Pascal the French mathematician and philosopher…

All of humanity’s problems stem from man’s inability to sit quietly in a room alone.

Or, we could step outside to observe the sky above on a clear night and listen to its wordless message with our eyes.

For years, when I used to read to my children every night, I had no idea that I was turning their ears into eyes. Occasionally, as I was reading aloud, I also pictured in my mind the scenes and actions described and formed images of the characters. To my surprise, when I saw The Lord of the Rings at the movies, there were scenes that almost exactly matched my imaginations.

But I forgot all that until last year when I began listening to audible books on my daily commutes. Now, as I’m driving, I am picturing places, incidents, and people in my head and marvelling at how the readers can muster up some many different voices of a plethora of characters. Currently I’m nearing the end of Dickens’ Nicholas Nickleby read by a Ghanian named Kobna Holbrook-Smith who has at least 25 different English male and female voices and accents. He and Dickens have turned my ears into eyes.

So far I’ve listened to A Room with a View, Ben-Hur, Romeo & Juliet, Bitter Wash Road, The Rosie Project, Huckleberry Finn, Robinson Crusoe, A Passage to India, The Nickel Boys, David Copperfield, Machines Like Us, Crime & Punishment, and The Lost Man – classics and current bestsellers. I’m only in the car for an hour a day, but that’s a lot in just about 8 months!

Anyway, this experience has reminded me of how I have often prayed that, when I am preaching, the Holy Spirit will turn my listeners ears into eyes. Perhaps you could pray the same for your pastor now that you might be hearing him via a podcast or live streaming. Or you might catch up on all the classics you missed by becoming a listener of audible books.