As the saying goes, this week was one for the books. Truth be told, the Book is the Bible. Friday night found me parked in pitch black darkness outside an Emergency Room. My very much loved and treasured (94 years young) Father was inside the hospital – without me or any family. Herein, lies one of the tragic realities of present day, pandemic life.
It was a long night. Not until dawn was about to break, and test results were trickling in, was it decided Dad would be admitted – again with strangers as his escort. However, the story to be shared is not a narrative of darkness, fear and separation. It is a vision of light, peacefulness, and unity – a time when the Hand of God was working through the fingers of so many of His children.
Getting my Dad out of my car and into the building, whose doors would shut me out, was not exclusively the struggle needed to be surmounted. Dad’s physical weakness outweighed my strength to lift him up and settle him down in a wheel chair. A total stranger, walking by us, did not pass us by. Instead, his fingers offered a strength beyond my own. He wore not only a uniform of blue, but also, compassion and commitment to the needs of others – at that moment, mine and my Dad’s. My heart is so very grateful.
Unable to look inside the hospital, I felt God whisper, “Look around you.” And so, I did.
A group of mid to upper teens huddled inside a couple parking spots. They were not tearing each other apart but holding each other together. They wore smiles, not resenting frowns. A second man in blue walked into their midst offering words I could not hear but a message to which our whole world needs to listen. In particular, one pre-adult paid extra close attention, took a step away while wearing a smile that defied the night’s darkness. Then, he abruptly turned around and shared with the messenger a “socially distanced” fist bump. I’ll never know the inner details of that scene. I, also, will never forget that moment in the dark when the light of God, through inner man, shone through.
My head turned to see a fast approaching white pick-up nearing the neon lit ER guiding sign. At first, I was surprised the truck did not sail up the lane in front of the hospital doors. Instead, it veered to the left and halted in the parking spot closest to the entrance. The driver jumped out and ran to the truck’s other side. Darkness veiled his features, but inner light revealed his identity. He was a Daddy, as God created man to be. As he raced to the ER doors, a limp little girl, I’d guess to be 9 or 10 years old, had her arms securely clenched around her Daddy’s neck And yes, those ER doors, with needed understanding and compassion, opened wide to both of them.
Immediately, I sent a whisper back to God. “Father God, your children on earth are sick and need your healing as desperately as that little girl, tonight, needs her earthly Daddy. God, please carry me, mine and all of Yours.”
As the greatest Father on earth regains his physical health under the lights of a hospital, may we, all equally created to be God’s children, rally our inner strength and direction from our Heavenly Father’s light shining through all worldly darkness. Our God leads and paints beautiful messages, if we are open to seeing all He sketches instead of focusing on the world’s sketchiness.
Uplifted in a Broken Down World 