Getting Old and the Love of God

In the past ten days I visited our two oldest members, one who has reached her 100th birthday and the other who will be 99 in a few months. Both are remarkable women who are intelligent and aware.

Yesterday I saw one of them in hospital and I could tell that illness has caused her to become physically weak and mentally confused. It seemed unfair that I had to come to her as a big masked man, along with the anonymous gown. I did explain who I was and she seemed to grasp this. We talked briefly and then I prayed.

The other person is in a nursing home and I dropped in to visit her just before Easter. Her sight is failing and her hearing is awful. She couldn't hear the phone ringing two feet away and I was forced to bellow in order to have a semblance of a conversation. I realized that this time reading the Easter story would be pointless, so I knelt down beside her and prayed directly into her ear. It would have been a comical sight for anyone entering the room given that I am quite tall. There I was, awkwardly positioned to shout supposedly gentle words about the abiding love of Christ.

Life does have its wry moments, although I felt heavy-hearted after both of these visits. Aging can seem so cruel at times. Yesterday I also visited a man I hadn't met before. I went in on the request of a member who wanted her grandfather to have some solace of faith. He was welcoming and remarkably open. He admitted that the day before he felt that he just wanted it to end, and at age 92 I could understand why. But a couple of visits had lifted his spirits.

We are often preoccupied with the "care and feeding" of the young in our churches, but we need to remember the ministry of kindness to those who are in the twilight of life.