Songs of the Times

A song from the late 60’s recently got some airtime on our local radio station, and listening to it immediately transported me back 40 years in time - to a school dance at Nimitz Junior High, Odessa, TX.

The tune and the words (Roberta Flack, “First Time Ever I Saw Your Face”) brought back the memory of my first slow dance with Lane Etheredge, a raven haired beauty way too wonderful to be dancing with me.  But she did.  It was great.  She may not remember, but I will never forget!

About the same time of that dance, my family was connecting to Lutheran Church of the Risen Lord – the “Touchdown Jesus Church” on Grandview Avenue, Odessa, TX.

The tune and the words of a Christian hymn sung often by that congregation of forgiven sinners (one new to our Methodist ears) has stuck with me to this day.  It was written in 1719, by Isaac Watts.

A particular verse of that old hymn comes to my mind every time I hear of someone’s dying or death.  Family, friend, complete stranger, it doesn’t matter who, but it does matter that I always remember these words:

            Time like an ever flowing stream,

            Soon bears us all away.

            We fly forgotten, as the night

            Comes on the end of day.

Some songs take us back in time.  Others help us forward into eternity.

Both are gifts from a gracious God.  Both are worth the listening, especially during the season of Christmas.


---Submitted by Hilton Chancellor

From The Dean Koontz Novel "Odd Hours"

Grief can destroy you - or focus you.  You can decide the life you shared was all for nothing if it had to end in death, leaving you alone.  Or you can realize that every moment of it had more meaning than you dared recognize at the time, so much meaning it overwhelmed you, so you just lived, just took for granted the love and the laughter of each day, and didn't allow yourself to consider the sacredness of it.  But when it's over and you're alone, you begin to see it wasn't just a movie and a dinner together, not just watching sunsets together, not just scrubbing a floor or washing dishes or worrying over the bills.  It was everything, it was the why of life, every event and precious moment of it.  The answer to the mystery of existence is the love you shared sometimes so imperfectly, and when the loss wakes you to the deeper beauty of it, to the sanctity of it, you can't get up off your knees for a long time, you're driven to your knees not by the weight of the loss but by the gratitude for the life you shared.  And the ache is always there, but one day the emptiness won't color your day or fill your heart, because to nurture the emptiness, to take solace in it, is to disrespect the life you shared and the gift of the human heart.

Dean Koontz (Odd Hours)

Larry Hood
Chaplain

Catching our balance – always important. When I was a young boy – eating watermelon sitting on the end of a picnic table – I fell backward off the table onto my head – I ran screaming around the yard holding my head – I had only a bad headache, I was OK.

            There are some things we need to know about our grief and God in order to catch our balance. Some things God wants to give us:

1)      That there is a reason for our suffering. A revelation from God. Our past needs revealing and reconciling. This is where faith is important. In His time He does all things beautiful. I need to know there is a reason for my suffering.

2)      That I will survive in the meantime. I need inspiration for the future. I must believe and have a hope that God will do good things. That we are going somewhere in all this. If I have a why , I can create a how. There will be an end to suffering.

3)      That it will happen now. I need miracle, love to change the now. The present. I need a friend in my suffering.

I Peter 1: 3-8  ³Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. According to His great mercy, He has given us a new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, ⁴and into an inheritance that is imperishable, uncorrupted, and unfading, kept in heaven for you, ⁵who are being protected by God’s power through faith for a salvation that is ready to be revealed in the last time. ⁶You rejoice in this, though now for a short time you have had to be distressed by various trials ⁷so that the genuineness of your faith – more valuable than gold, which perishes though refined by fire – may result in praise, glory, and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ. ⁸You love Him, though your have not seen Him. And though not seeing Him now, you believe in Him and rejoice with inexpressible and glorious joy.

                                                                                                Chaplain Jimmy Braswell

Dealing with Grief

Grief is the dominate emotion of our lives.  It is a natural part of our human experience but, as all emotions, needs expression.  Its like a cleansing breath, catching our breath, a refreshing pause.  We simply need to tell others our story as a part of a community of remembrance and we help heal each other.

This truth became especially evident during my work as Spiritual Director on a Walk to Emmaus.  The experience of the Walk is already very structured, and carefully so, in order for the participants to experience refreshment spiritually.  It works; a great experience.  This particular walk I shared a grief experience during, and part of, a morning devotional.  I was approached by several individuals who asked for a memorial service.  Since adding the service was not part of Emmaus, we planned one during our break time.  I was amazed to see, not two or three, but the majority of the participants coming to the memorial.  We simply read scripture, each sharing their memory and lighting a candle.  Tears flowed abundantly and their spirits were revived.  I may do it every walk.  It worked and helped enormously in their experience.

Take a moment, plan it, and go somewhere special and remember.  Take a friend and tell your story, maybe light a candle and say a prayer.  "Companion your grief" as Alan Wolfelt is so famous for teaching.

Chaplain Jimmy Braswell

EVERYONE IS INVITED TO OUR 2011 BUTTERFLY RELEASE & FAMILY CELEBRATIONS

Please check out the times and locations for the upcoming Butterfly Releases and Family Celebrations.

Odessa – Saturday, April 30th, 2-4pm, Globe of the Great Southwest


Andrews – Saturday, April 30th, 2-4pm, Pioneer Park Community Bldg


Big Spring – Sunday, May 1st, 2-4pm, Dora Roberts Community Center


Midland-Saturday, May 7th, 2-4pm, Midland Center.


Also check us out online at http://www.homehospicewtx.com/event.html for other upcoming events!