“The grass withers, the flower fades; but the word of our God will stand for ever.”
Isaiah 40:8 (RSV)
There is a man who I’ve become acquainted with over my time of visiting the Nursing home. He has serious mental health problems and has undergone multiple (ECT) electric shock treatments. Each time I see him he seems to know me but never remembers my name. I will call him Joe, for privacy reasons.
While visiting with my usual circle of residents at the facility, Joe came into the Day room, and rolled his wheelchair near to our table. One resident looked at him and cried out, “See, that’s how he gets!” I looked at Joe and he looked extremely anxious, and his facial expression appeared to be tormented. He didn’t seem able to verbalize anything, and I didn’t know what to do for him, but I felt I should go to him.
I asked Joe if I could pray for him, and he nodded yes. I laid a hand on his shoulder and prayed for him to have peace and to know Jesus is with him. After that I told him to keep praying to God and He will help him. I sat back down at the table, and then I heard Joe’s voice faintly begin to recite the Lord’s Prayer. I turned to watch him as he said the words, “Our Father who art in Heaven, hallowed be thy name.” His voice was faint so I joined him in saying the rest of the prayer and then all the friends at the table joined in as well. Joe prayed the entire prayer all the way to the end with us.
It was a moment of grace to see Joe, who had such limited memory, start saying the Lord’s prayer on his own, and then to pray it to the end with everyone. The Lord’s Prayer is God’s word, since Jesus taught it in Matthew’s gospel. Isaiah said that God’s word will endure forever, long after the grass withers and the flower fades.
As I looked around the Nursing home, it is filled with people whose minds are fading like the flowers, and their bodies are withering like grass, yet the words of Jesus, will remain in the human soul forever.
Somehow, the words of that prayer remained in some part of Joe’s brain cells, enabling him to start reciting it, despite his disabling memory loss. I think it’s amazing that people with critical memory loss can remember certain prayers and scriptures. Chaplains have found that patients with Alzheimer’s dementia may not know their own name, but they remember how to recite a prayer.
The body and mind may fade but the soul retains the things eternal, which have nourished it. As Joe prayed, the expression of panic and anxiety left his face, and he became more relaxed.
God gave us souls to nourish so that when the mind and body begin to fade like the flowers and grass do, our soul still retains its everlasting nourishment of faith, God’s word and His Presence, all which will carry us through.
There is a scripture for every need and here’s one that speaks God’s love to senior believers:
“Even to your old age and gray hairs, I am he, I am he who will sustain you. I have made you and I will carry you; I will sustain you and I will rescue you.”
(Isaiah 46:4)
Lord, you have made us and you promised to sustain us, so we place our mind, body, soul and spirit into your hands to always be carried in your love. Amen
