“It Took My Breath Away”

I’ve been spending too much time lately in hospitals and doctor’s offices. While I seem to be maneuvering around any major challenges, you see a lot of stuff going on, a lot of suffering, and even death. I have also been to the funerals of 4 dear friends recently. Yet in all of this you can see the hand of the Lord. Ecclesiastes 7:4 suggests that moments of sorrow and contemplation offer deeper insights than times of celebration.

I’ve noticed profound realities in some of the toughest places…. self-sacrificing and kind health care workers who are eager to help those in real need, and honoring those who had died. My one daughter, a NICU nurse who deals with life and death daily,  recently shared a story of “ a beautiful nurse who ultimately died from a tragic accident … on her last journey from the ICU to the OR to give the gift of life thru organ donation; some 40 health care workers( doctors, nurses, techs, security) were part of the “Honors Walk” with the family at midnight…. a Divine Mercy prayer card near her face.” This story takes my breath away. 

Another daughter is a Hospice Nurse at a local major hospital. God has used her in the “waiting room of death” where the greatest of human events (life & death) are occurring and where emotions and grace and fear and confusion and sorrow and joy are all mixed together. When I was in this hospital the other day for a procedure, we were told that a hospice nurse had helped the dying father of one of their fellow nurses. When she found out that this hospice nurse was our daughter, she came to us in tears sharing the magnitude of the moment of his passing.  God often uses her to bring peace out of confusion, order out of chaos…an instrument of his Holy Spirit. It took my breath away.

Last week was the death and funeral of a beautiful 93 year old widow, mother of 7, grandmother of 42 who had been waiting to join her dear husband who passed years earlier. The funeral mass was inspiring …. the homily, the music, the grandchildren singing, the eulogy by her eldest daughter. This simple and quiet and wonderful life filled with small and big acts of kindness done with great love and joy was wonderful. Her constant and quiet prayers were of great effect. I knew Rose, but as the curtain was pulled back, I saw more of her holy life and  it took my breath away. 

As we continue our journey through Advent, God may speak to us in surprising ways. Let’s just keep our hearts open to however he speaks to us. In all these various circumstances, he will be there to help us see the moments that take our breath away … moments where we will see his presence.