Passing Death

When I walk through the hospital and see the people in their beds I wonder how many of them see me as death walking through the hallways. There I am in my shirt and collar, trying to minister to people, and yet I wonder how many of them see me as death coming to collect my own, I am collecting the person for their funeral. It doesn't feel very healthy and caring, I know its part of Gods call upon me to care for those who are both spiritually and physically hurt. May God help me to do what I need to do.

Comments

Anonymous said…
I believe people do think that. When my grandfather was in the hospital very sick(and dying) their Pastor walked in wearing his collar. When he saw him (he didn't know who he was) he started to cry. But the Pastor didn't talk to him about the sickness or being in the hospital, he talked to him about everyday things and then my grandfather was fine. I think the people know what is happening to them but if you talk to them about other things it would make them not have to think about being sick or dying for at least a few moments.
10:54 PM
Anonymous said…
Wes,
I have had 4 freinds go to the Lord this past year. I too felt like the Angle of Death. It was hard on me when I made my last vists to these people. To see the pain in their eyes, and their longing to go home.
This is truley the hardest part in ministry. They can teach you, and you can read the scriptures, but they can not teach you how to look it to the thier eyes and the eyes of the families that are hurt and suffering. I pray that God would give you the strength and wisdom during these times that you may Be Light of Hope to the sick and dying.
You Brother in Christ,
Ron
7:47 AM
Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Mac and Cheeze

Sometimes being poor pays off. The bane of the modern household is what to do with leftovers. I'll admit it, we don't do as good with them as we should. When we first got married we only knew how to cook for 5 people so there was tons of leftovers. Then we reached the point where I could make just enough for the two of us so that there was nothing left unless we intended it i.e. pizza the breakfast of champions. Then we had Olivia, you can never tell how much you need. Sometimes you make something and she just doesn't eat much, other times you are feeding her all the scraps from bowl. So needless to say our leftover production has gone up. The benefit of being poor in relation to food is that you get very creative with what you have in the cupboard. Tonights meal was Mac and Cheese but not just any Mac, oh no, this was home made. With cheese sauce, whole wheat pasta, extra Monteray jack cheese and a few special things. Mac and Cheese has earned the name of refrig...
Read more

Ortega: "Man Has No Nature"

"Man has to be himself in spite of unfavorable circumstances; that means he has to make his own existence at every single moment. He is given the abstract possiblity of existing, but not the reality." Today unfortunatly I got very little opportunity to read but when I did I was able to read and excerpt from Ortega (of course dealing with existentialism). Ortega has a very nice writing style that is very understandable but also thought provoking. This quote I have above is the first two sentences of the selection. What struck me about these sentences is the reality of it. Man is the one that chooses his reality. That is he chooses who or what he is to be. Man is under the influence of countless things in his life, religion, politics, friends, and family, not to mention history in general but it is his/her choices that influences his/her reality. I am not saying that man creates his /her reality apart or separate from physical scientific reality. What I am saying is th...
Read more

Theology vs. Scripture

I've been doing some thinking. I've been apart of and have been watching the discussion taking place on Locust and Honey on the General conference. I did post some statements but recently a relatively short discussion on homosexuality has surfaced. Now this is a hot button issue for pretty much everyone but there were a few issues I had with the various points that were given, as well as some thoughts on what is happening in the church right now around this issue. First off, I was struck by the insistence that the church needs to be open and affirming. I am not making any claims on whether this is right or wrong but the church has never in its history been an "open and affirming" organization. This is just a statement of fact, and I find it quite interesting that most people claim that the Methodist church needs to be open and affirming when I believe that John Wesley would not have been. Lest we forget John was known for kicking people out of his societies if ...
Read more