i've been around people in the hospital. i was a nurse assistant at one time.
when people are in the hospital, their true selves seem to come out fully.
it's natural. the hospital is a scary place. you're scared for your life. you're laying in a strange bed surrounded by strangers who literally have your life in their hands. the reality is sinking in that your body and all its tiny but crucial functions are out of your control. it's unsettling. it's surreal. all your norms are gone. you're left alone with long days and troubling thoughts.
some people are sad and quiet. they stare out the window, maybe thinking about home, maybe thinking of family and friends, maybe just trying to think of nothing. they've always got a tissue clutched in their hand because they're continually crying.
some are angry. they yell at the nurses; they scream into the hallway when we don't respond to the call button fast enough; they are angry at the doctors and angry at the hospital in general; they complain about the food, the smells, the ugliness of a nurse, the noise, the size of the room, the patient in the bed next to them, the taste of the water, the pills they have to take, the itch on their toe... it's never-ending, and it's not just the regular requests.
some are scared silly. the look in their eyes is frantic with fear. they call out pitifully in the middle of the night. they can't sleep. when we enter to take their blood pressure or temperature, they cling to our hands and don't want to let us out of the room.
some are control freaks. they ask every question about everything, more than the usual inquisitive mind. they insist on everything being just so; they send back meals because the pudding was in a cup instead of a bowl. they constantly ask for the temperature of the room to be changed - first it's too cold, then it's too hot, now it's too cold again...
some become more than creepy. they leer at every nurse. they call out obscenities. they invite nurses into the bed with them. and i've heard that some even grab at the nurses' bodies!
but a few are calm, and even cheerful. who are these people? they ask us how we're doing. they listen patiently to our explanations of what we're doing. they also share how they're feeling, be it fear or anxiety or frustration or pain, but it's the kind of sharing that helps us know how to help them, and it inspires us to help. they're the ones we look forward to visiting. they're the room numbers we hope we get assigned each day. they're the smiles we see and wonder how they are managing to do so in their condition.
who do you think you'd be like if you were in the hospital? or have you been in the hospital and already know which you are? i haven't but i can imagine my natural self being super-scared, maybe a bit control-freak, and possibly withdrawn/quiet.
my pastor told of a lady who worked in hospice, where death really IS imminent. over the years, she noticed a pattern. Christians died differently than non-Christians, in their last breath. their hearts were calm. their bodies were peaceful. their eyes were hopeful.
you see, people who believe that Jesus is God, and that He died in their place because of their wrong-doings, and that He rose Himself from the dead to conquer it, these people have an assurance that there is life after death. that same assurance means there is life for THEM in particular after life on this earth is over. death is not the end! it's more like a doorway into the best-ever new life: life as it was meant to be!
on the other hand, those who don't believe in Jesus to take them through that doorway have no such hope. death holds total unknown. is there a hell? is there some sort of good deadness that you can achieve by being a good person here on earth? is there reincarnation, another cycle of life here on earth? are you just obliterated? does this life on earth mean anything after all is said and done?
if you don't believe in Jesus, you don't know for sure. and according to the Bible, if you don't believe in Jesus, you will spend eternity (not just a few days or years, but FOREVER!) separated from goodness and love and peace... eternity without God, who is the embodiment of all those things. that's scary! that's something to fear!
so i ask again: how will YOU die?
when people are in the hospital, their true selves seem to come out fully.
it's natural. the hospital is a scary place. you're scared for your life. you're laying in a strange bed surrounded by strangers who literally have your life in their hands. the reality is sinking in that your body and all its tiny but crucial functions are out of your control. it's unsettling. it's surreal. all your norms are gone. you're left alone with long days and troubling thoughts.
some people are sad and quiet. they stare out the window, maybe thinking about home, maybe thinking of family and friends, maybe just trying to think of nothing. they've always got a tissue clutched in their hand because they're continually crying.
some are angry. they yell at the nurses; they scream into the hallway when we don't respond to the call button fast enough; they are angry at the doctors and angry at the hospital in general; they complain about the food, the smells, the ugliness of a nurse, the noise, the size of the room, the patient in the bed next to them, the taste of the water, the pills they have to take, the itch on their toe... it's never-ending, and it's not just the regular requests.
some are scared silly. the look in their eyes is frantic with fear. they call out pitifully in the middle of the night. they can't sleep. when we enter to take their blood pressure or temperature, they cling to our hands and don't want to let us out of the room.
some are control freaks. they ask every question about everything, more than the usual inquisitive mind. they insist on everything being just so; they send back meals because the pudding was in a cup instead of a bowl. they constantly ask for the temperature of the room to be changed - first it's too cold, then it's too hot, now it's too cold again...
some become more than creepy. they leer at every nurse. they call out obscenities. they invite nurses into the bed with them. and i've heard that some even grab at the nurses' bodies!
but a few are calm, and even cheerful. who are these people? they ask us how we're doing. they listen patiently to our explanations of what we're doing. they also share how they're feeling, be it fear or anxiety or frustration or pain, but it's the kind of sharing that helps us know how to help them, and it inspires us to help. they're the ones we look forward to visiting. they're the room numbers we hope we get assigned each day. they're the smiles we see and wonder how they are managing to do so in their condition.
who do you think you'd be like if you were in the hospital? or have you been in the hospital and already know which you are? i haven't but i can imagine my natural self being super-scared, maybe a bit control-freak, and possibly withdrawn/quiet.
my pastor told of a lady who worked in hospice, where death really IS imminent. over the years, she noticed a pattern. Christians died differently than non-Christians, in their last breath. their hearts were calm. their bodies were peaceful. their eyes were hopeful.
you see, people who believe that Jesus is God, and that He died in their place because of their wrong-doings, and that He rose Himself from the dead to conquer it, these people have an assurance that there is life after death. that same assurance means there is life for THEM in particular after life on this earth is over. death is not the end! it's more like a doorway into the best-ever new life: life as it was meant to be!
on the other hand, those who don't believe in Jesus to take them through that doorway have no such hope. death holds total unknown. is there a hell? is there some sort of good deadness that you can achieve by being a good person here on earth? is there reincarnation, another cycle of life here on earth? are you just obliterated? does this life on earth mean anything after all is said and done?
if you don't believe in Jesus, you don't know for sure. and according to the Bible, if you don't believe in Jesus, you will spend eternity (not just a few days or years, but FOREVER!) separated from goodness and love and peace... eternity without God, who is the embodiment of all those things. that's scary! that's something to fear!
so i ask again: how will YOU die?
"The path of the righteous is like the first gleam of dawn,
shining ever brighter till the full light of day.
But the way of the wicked is like deep darkness;
they do not know what makes them stumble."
Proverbs 4:18-19
Jesus said:
"...if I go and prepare a place for you,
I will come back and take you to be with me...
"I am the way and the truth and the
life.
No one comes to the Father except through me.
"Because I live, you also will live.
"Peace I leave with you;
my peace I give you.
I do not give as the world gives.
Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid."
John 14:3, 6, 19b, 27
