Time Is Short

Lying in the bed, watching the family gather - the hospice nurse hovering nearby.  Saying goodbye, remembering, sharing, weeping quietly.  The smell of death and chemicals mix with the scents of the food that friends and neighbors have brought by.   Music playing softly in the background - perhaps the Christmas station.   People talking softly - almost whispering, as if the man in the bed must not hear them talk of death.

As he lies there - let's say it - dying and drifting in and out of sleep, he is aware.  He hears the voices, smells the food, watches the people shift around him.  He has made his peace, said his goodbyes, communicated his wishes.  The service has been set, the arrangements have been made - all is ready.  For a long time he thought he might win the battle.  Progress was made, treatments were administered, doctors were consulted.  That time is long past.  He has known for quite a while that the fight was over - the cancer has spread, there is no cure - only waiting.

Now - here - at the end, he waits.   He grieves inwardly for the pain of those he leaves behind while at the same time yearning for relief - relief from the pain, the weariness, the disease that has destroyed his body.  The time is soon, maybe hours, a few days at most.  He wonders what he might have done differently.  Do the children know how much he loves them?  Does his wife?   Letting go, trusting God to take care of them.

He has done well, lived a good life - even if it has been far shorter than he had planned.  He has finished the race and is ready to hear "Well done good and faithful servant."   He knows - oh yes he does!   Jesus is stretching out His hand - waiting for him to come home.   He knows what awaits him on the other side.  Too many live in fear and terror of death but there is no mystery - no confusion in his mind.    God has promised and He always keeps His promises.   Soon now, he gets the opportunity - the opportunity he has been waiting for all his life - to meet his Savior and his Lord face to face.

Goodbye Dan, may God ease your passing and keep your family in His care.  We will miss you.