As promised, here’s the poem by Pastor Ron Baesler.
THE BENT OVER WOMAN
“Now he was teaching in one of the synagogues on the Sabbath. And just then there appeared a woman with a spirit that had crippled her for eighteen years. She was bent over and was quite unable to stand up straight.” Luke 13:10
She has been downsized, minimized, trivialized
Once vibrant, vital, she pulsed with quiet energy,
Now weary beyond words, and quiet, so silent;
Her vocal cords like leather shoe laces in unused boots.
She is a bit of feather, caught by a bush in the lee of the house,
No breeze, no move, no lift.
From bedroom to bathroom is a 15 foot marathon.
Slide aching gnarled toes from beneath the sheets,
Swivel gravel grinding hip joints forward and reach
Reach for the rubber handles, rubber grip, don’t slip.
Then edge, slide, and shuffle.
Breakfast becomes a nuisance,
And the Tribune? No news is good news.
Besides, it is 15 feet from the front door to the chair
Where she waits for the day to pass.
The horizon kept inching closer.
The world kept getting smaller,
One day, she drifted out of milky sleep and realized
The world outside was tinier than the world inside.
She was not surprised.
I love Ron’s imagery in his poem! Some days I feel like I’m already there. Hahaha! Old age is something that most of us rarely think of, except as it effects our grandparents… or maybe our parents. Old age, if you live long enough, WILL find you. I doubt any of us is properly prepared.
The oldest people I know who are still active and alert have several things in common. They all have a great positive attitude. They all know God, and have a spirit of thankfulness. They are all active in their community… whether it’s a senior community, an assisted living community, or their church community… they stay active and involved. And, last but not least, they all seem to have servant hearts; they reach out to others… even if they can’t reach very far.
My prayer is that God will grant me the humbleness to accept each diminished capacity as I age, and that he grants me the strength to continue in His witness and His service until the day He calls me home.
Your brother in Christ,
Dave
Diehl's great-grandmother, Grandma Grace, lived into her nineties. She kept outliving her friends. So she was continually making new friends, and encouraging all those around her. She wrote at least one letter each day. When she visited Diehl's family (his mother Carol was Grace's granddaughter) (he was still a young teen) she could not get around well but she wanted to meet the neighbors. So she said, "Let's go ring doorbells and run. I'll ring the bell and you run!" It took effort for her to walk to the separate houses but meeting the neighborhood and making friends was worth it. However, her life was not physically as hard as in this poem. At least not then. Later, she broke a hip. Even after she moved to the nursing home she continued to be involved with Christians, make friends, and embroider pillowcases and make pretty and useful things for others.
ReplyDeleteI met her several times when Diehl was in the Navy and stationed nearby. As her physical abilities lessened greatly, she still rejoiced in other people. She died two weeks after Diehl said it was the last visit because the Navy was transferring him. But in the meantime she was, as her name bespeaks, full of grace. She knew the grace of God for herself, and treated others with grace as like unto His as she could. What a pleasure to be around her! But still she knew where HOME is. What is *really real* is the Kingdom of God, in our hearts now.