What an eye opener for me this morning. We’re just a few days away from Christmas and if you are like me there is always a lot that flows through your emotions – for me they range from being exhausted and depleted to being downright sad and anxious.
The old year bringing in the new – the joyful spirit of giving to others – the exhilaration of being together with family and friends – and of course the pure joy of celebrating the birth of Christ and all the hope He brings.
Yet, for me, there is always another side of the season.
The emotions of joy are tempered by worldly concerns accompanied by an inward look into my inner-self. Thoughts about the happiness of my wife and I – the happiness of my eight children and their spouses and children – questions about what the future holds for all of us as we embark in new directions – and a desire to make up for all the things I should have done differently over the years. In short, I can’t help but wonder how to become a better husband, father, person, professional and of course a better Christian?
But then just as I begin going down the road of disquiet God steps in and shows His hand. He offers a glimpse of Hope and Joy and what both can look like even if you are a frail 90 year-old living in a nursing home.
You see, my wife and I have a commitment to attend daily Mass. But today she mixed it up a bit and took me to a nursing home operated by Carmelite nuns where just about all the people are in a wheelchair and really old. Yet, one after one they were wheeled in to the beautiful little chapel. Some with their heads slouched low because age has caught up with them, others a bit perkier yet still totally reliant on someone pushing them into the chapel.
As we waited for Mass to begin I whispered to my wife that I didn’t want to become like that (old and in need of so much caring) but my wife began to gently point out the beauty of the situation. What she saw escaped me at first but as she talked to me quietly in our pew the wisdom of her words hit me between the eyes.
My wife was right, although she didn’t actually word it this way; these elderly people have passion and hustle for life and a remarkable faith in God. Here they sit, maybe a former CEO of a major corporation, or a famous celebrity, or a great military officer, or a mother of a large family, or consider the elderly nun sitting in the front row in her habit (she was clearly approaching 100 years old in my opinion). She probably touched thousands, if not millions, of lives during her countless years of service to others.
And here they all sit – dressed with holiday flair, smiling, joyful, and alert while attending Mass in a small chapel at a nursing home in Illinois. By many human accounts you would sit back and say that you don’t want to become that way. And that you can’t imagine being so alone and not needed, or maybe even not wanted – I don’t want to think about how many of these wonderful people don’t even have families that care enough to visit them. On human terms we can only view this scene in a negative light and perhaps even consider it “sad”. Yet, if you look into their eyes you see pure joy and simplicity and a sense of abandonment into those that are serving them.
Just imagine someone that was a professional big-shot always giving direction and orders to subordinates and now, late in life, she has to rely totally, I mean totally, on someone else to help get around, and maybe even for feeding and bathing.
It was inspiring to me. First to reaffirm that life is truly a mystery of epic proportions and that even in old age you can have a passion for life and even a bit of hustle. If these elderly folks didn’t have a dose of each they wouldn’t have been up so early in the morning, dressed, happy and attending Mass – just an impressive site to see and a reminder to me that even though life is fragile, it is a true gift from God to be cherished, nurtured and celebrated.
As we walked out of the building an old and frail woman caught my eye, straightened herself up in her wheelchair and with a big smile, holding her head high, enthusiastically said to my wife and me – “Merry Christmas”.
Wow.