When The Meaning Of Words Goes Off The Chart

"Jesus loves me this I know . . ."

"Trust and obey, for there's no other way . . ."

"Nearer to the heart of God . . ."

"How great thou art . . ."

Those are the words of songs traditionally sung in Christian Churches all over North America. Many people know these hymns so well they can sing them without “hearing” a single word.

Not so with one group I was just with.

My wife and I drove a few hours south to visit a friend of ours. I met him in Graduate School and he became one of my best friends. He's a young man who is dying of Multiple Systems Atrophy. The doctors have described it as a rare disease of the brain stem where the patient experiences the symptoms of Parkinson's, Huntington's, Multiple Sclerosis, ALS, and one other disease that I can't remember. He went into a special care home in January of this year and is not expected to see January 2013. All things being equal, he will suffocate to death.

At this point Rod's speech is barely discernible. Soon he will not be able to speak at all, and shortly after that he will not be able to swallow. He does not have control of his bowels. He cannot walk or stand or move from his wheelchair to bed or from bed to chair without nurses and Lifts. 

His mind is clear. 
He is trapped. 
Utterly trapped in a body that is failing him fast.

I used to covet this man's body. He was the stereotypical jock. Big and buff. He climbed mountains and built houses. He hunted and fished and raised four strong and healthy children. He could move wheelbarrows of concrete all day long and play football for fun in the evening. He is a loving husband and grandfather. He's kind. He's gentle. He's brilliant. He was a Pastor until he did not have the strength to prepare sermons or do his duties.

Rod loves God and says via a computer that right now, in the midst of this horrendous loss, God's love for him seems deeper and broader than anything he's ever experienced in his life. While both Rod and his wife don't downplay how devastating this disease has been on them individually, as a couple and as a family, Rod and his family have dug deep in their commitment to their Creator. 

“He sustains us, strengthens us, encourages us and fills us with hope and joy.”

Only another follower of Jesus can know and identify with the meaning of these words. They are empty and meaningless to those on the outside looking in. 

My wife and I spent the last couple days with Rod. This is the first time that I've ever said goodbye to someone who was able to say back to me, “Goodbye my friend. I'm almost home.” This is the first time I've ever had to say goodbye to someone who in return was able to look me in the eye, to hold me close and cry with me as we promised to see each other on the other side.

I can count on one hand the number of men that I admire and my dear friend Rod is one of them.

God bless, my friend.

I'll see you There.

Oh ya. And the words to those songs? I discovered they mean one thing in your average Congregation on your average Sunday morning. However, when sitting in a room on a Thursday afternoon in a nursing home where thirty wheelchair bound people, all of them heading for an early death are singing their hearts out with smiles on their faces and tears of gratefulness in their eyes, well, those words mean something else altogether.

I have been honoured to sit with those who display amazing courage and boldness in the valley of the shadow of death.

And that leads me to wonder - 

What kind of a person would reject the offer of a Love that is able to sustain us through trials like this? Not just sustain us but make us more than conquerors. It seems to me that only a fool would turn away from that kind of Love.