Previous Challenge Entry (Level 1 – Beginner)
Topic: Calm (emotionally) (09/13/07)
-
TITLE: God's Touch | Previous Challenge Entry
By Sue Lyon
09/14/07 -
LEAVE COMMENT ON ARTICLE
SEND A PRIVATE COMMENT
ADD TO MY FAVORITES
I walked into her room, not quite knowing what to expect.
My steps were slow, my breathing fast, my mind racing with regret.
How long I had waited, questioned, cried, prayed, screamed, “Why?”
“Does she have to continue to suffer, laying there day after day, please let her die.”
We had had our differences, our disagreements, like mothers and daughters do,
But as you get older, life’s challenges give all things a different hue.
Though still a large women, not frail like her story would seem to tell,
She laid there, on her side, barely breathing, not moving, icy pale.
I walked to her side, “Mom, I’m here,” I heard myself cheerfully say.
She hadn’t know me in years, yet that bubbly, bouncy air I was trying to portray.
My sister had been her life line, her care giver, her support.
We talked every day, by phone, and she would give me a progress report.
I held her hand, I hugged and kissed her but not a single response could I see.
My eyes burned, my throat was closing, was this what was in store for me?
The physical problems, medications, and doctors, my sister saw to it all for her,
But alzheimers is a huge challenge, never knowing what will occur.
We sat around her bed talking softly, contributing to the game of remember when,
And then the barrage, of well wishers. started coming by, dropping in.
My mind started racing, I could feel my anger growing hotter and hotter inside,
I had to escape this scene, before I exploded and my feelings I could no longer hide.
The voices seemed to grow louder, “How is she doing?” “Is she in any pain?”
Or they would start on their story going on and on trying a similar situation explain.
Some walked over to her bedside, speaking to her so softly, gently, and light,
And then as they walked away got louder, as if she had just dropped out of sight.
I ran from the room, down the hall, to the large, winding, wooden staircase and the next floor.
There I found the chapel, and could see it was empty, through the beautiful etched glass door.
I huddled on the floor, in the back corner, crying and begging for an answer to be shown.
“God, I don’t understand, I feel helpless and so very much alone.”
I can’t imagine laying there, listening to personal things, care, even how I look,
As if because I don’t speak, now for one and all my life is an open book!
I know I am too picky, too frightened by what people think and say, what I don’t know,
But I feel so like this time is a circus, with no dignity only a show.
A show of who did what, who didn’t, of how things were or should have been.
Not of peace and quite, of relaxing and looking forward to the new life that soon will begin.
“Lord, forgive me for my judging, for not seeing through the eyes of others and their needs.
Help me to pass through this time, to see that this too can be You sowing seeds.”
Seeds of sharing sorrows, seeds of relationships of friends,
Seeds of kindness for others, seeds of acceptance and forgiveness for family and on whom we depend,
As I began my walk, through that beautiful glass door and down those magnificent wooden stairs,
I’d like to say my answer came in a sudden flashing light or an instant message from out of the air.
But for me God’s touch has never come, in such a glorious way,
For me God’s touch comes through others, who I encounter day after day.
Like the nurse who put her hand on my shoulder, as my mother took her last breath;
The dear friend who I could confide in, as she too faced her impending death;
The cards and letters and phone calls, the prayers of love from family and friends,
All bringing support, peace, and knowledge that on something greater we can depend.
God’s touch, coming through others, calms my anxious heart, as I face each day,
God’s touch coming through others, gives me strength to meet whatever comes my way.
The opinions expressed by authors may not necessarily reflect the opinion of FaithWriters.com.
If you died today, are you absolutely certain that you would go to heaven? You can be right now. CLICK HERE
JOIN US at FaithWriters for Free. Grow as a Writer and Spread the Gospel.
Very nicely written!