“Thou hast turned for me my mourning into dancing; thou hast loosed my sackcloth and girded me with gladness.”
Psalm 30:11 (RSV)
The Lord is the One who can turn our mourning into joy and dancing. Living in a Nursing Facility can be a dark and sad place for some people, since it’s like a period of mourning for them. For some, their mourning is turned into joy, when they can finally return home to their family. I knew of three residents over the past year who were only there for a period of rehabilitation and later discharged.
For others, who have no family, it is a permanent residence. Some are there permanently because they require 24 hour care, but other residents are there permanently, simply because they have no assets and no family.
I have come to know a handful like that, since they reside on the same floor as my son, Jon.
Tawana is a resident at that NH, who I have known and befriended for the past year. She is awaiting her own discharge soon, while recovering from brain cancer. She has three adult children who live in the Chicago area, and is planning to live with one of them, after her discharge one day.
Last week I met a resident who I never saw before, since he lives on a different floor, and seldom comes into the community day room. He walked in and stood still, placing one hand on a column in the room, listening to the music playing on a resident’s speaker. Tawana knew him as a long time resident on her floor. She told me his name is David and he is totally blind. That’s why he was standing, holding the column and listening to music.
The old song by the Four Tops was playing, called “I can’t help myself.” Tawana got up to dance and invited David to come stand closer to the music speaker to hear the music better. I joined Tawana and we danced as David let go of the column and began to dance with us. Tawana and I sang the words out loud to David, “Sugar pie honey bunch, you know that I love you, I can’t help myself, I love you and nobody else.”🎶
We had fun, but David was overjoyed and his face lit up with the biggest smile, as he danced with us. Then he said, “I love this group participation!” I don’t think David has ever had people sing and dance with him during his life at that Nursing Home. It was a rare moment of joy for him and he did not stop smiling.
During that brief mini dance party, Tawana and I were delighted to see David’s joy, and I look forward to more in the future. A thought came to me, though it’s not an actual scripture verse, I thought to myself,
“I was blind and lonely, and you sang and danced with me.”
A simple act of sharing our joy with him, dancing and singing to a classic oldie, was a rare moment of joy for David, who lives in a dark and lonely world, in a facility that cares for his physical needs, but provides little social interaction. Since he can hear, music was his only friend until two ladies surrounded him that day, dancing and singing lyrics of love to him.
His external circumstances didn’t change, and he is still a blind man, and lifelong resident in a nursing facility, with no visitors, but God sees David and decided to send him into the community day room according to His perfect timing. The Spirit of God inspired Tawana, who inspired me, and together we brought a moment of joy instead of mourning to David’s life. Everyone’s life simply consists of a series of moments, and we all have the potential to bring rare moments of joy to others.
Joy is a state of happiness that is not dependent on external causes. True joy comes from God, and is within all of us. Scripture tells us that the joy of the Lord is our strength.
(Nehemiah 8:10)
The joy we bring to others will give them strength and come right back to do the same for the giver. The best remedy for feeling sad, alone or worried, is to go out and bring a rare moment of joy to someone else. Making someone smile may not change the world, but it changes their world. It also lifts us out of our world of problems, as we receive more than we ever give.
Lord, in this Christmas season of joy, show us how we can share the joy of the Lord with someone who is living in a dark, lonely place, that we might for a moment, turn their mourning into joy. Amen