Posted 4/2/21
They were greatly disturbed because the apostles were teaching the people, proclaiming in Jesus the resurrection of the dead. –Acts 4:2
Happy Good Friday to everyone! 🙂 Hopefully this isn’t disturbing in an undue fashion, but I too teach people that Jesus was resurrected from the dead…and we celebrate that wondrous event this Sunday at Easter. Today, on Good Friday, we celebrate His death on the cross, a necessary event to bring to death the penalty of sin for all who repent and believe the Gospel. This is Christianity 101, but it is also Christianity post-graduate school because you will never outgrow the vastness and riches to be found in this true event. If you think you have “matured” beyond it in your faith, please reconsider. Here is a little poem that came out of my visit yesterday:
She Sees Right Through Me
When I was a baby and threw a hissy fit
I cried and I howled (and occasionally spit),
Mom always knew what I needed, lickety-split.
How?
Mom could see right through me….and fixed what was wrong.
When honery little me began to toddle
I held steadfast to my tiger and my bottle.
Mom replaced them with better, and did not dawdle.
How?
Mom could see right through me….and helped me to trust.
My grade school years I was so hyper and unwound
from morning to night, my feet barely hit the ground.
Even in the maelstrom you’d seldom see her frown.
How?
Mom could see right through me…and helped me slow down.
My pre-teen years brought a mixture of joy and strife,
lots of great times and then divorce came with its knife.
Mom tried her best to help me adjust to this life.
How?
Mom could see right through me…even when she failed.
In high school I was much “smarter” than everyone.
My life was consumed by me, pride’s downfall begun,
Mom patiently waited for the course to be run.
How?
Mom could see right through me…and had seen this before.
Grown up, married, a dad x3 and a career
I was always too busy to keep my mom near.
Yet she found ways to share words I needed to hear.
How?
Mom could see right through me…and loved me just the same.
Today things are different, dementia a savage foe
Mom’s end, a current against which she can hardly row.
Now Mom stares right through me, where did the “real” mom go?
How?
“I’ll soon beat this” she silently shouts with a smile.
I am not going to overtly preach to you, friends, but Sunday is Easter. It is a great day to reconsider Christianity. Please visit a local church, mask on for safety, and learn of the One who defeated death and gives mom and me the complete faith that she too will defeat death in Heaven someday soon. Please don’t get your faith (or lack thereof) from bloggers like me, preachers on TV/YouTube, from documentaries/magazines on the faith, from good or bad examples of followers, or from your parents. Discover, for yourself, the Gospel and its power. When we all get to our ends, our Creator will also see right through us…to the real us. If we are a believer, He will (miraculously) see His Son instead of our thousands and thousands of failures, not because we were perfect…or even a little bit good …but because His Son was and paid our sin’s penalty. The first four books of the New Testament are a great place to start as you explore. Here is a reading plan. Will mom be physically “healed” of this savage disease? I will admit to you that it is doubtful…and would require a miracle seldom seen in human history. However, I can say with absolute certainty that she will be healed in heaven and will spend an eternity there.
Update: We had a nice visit with mom yesterday. She stared through me most of the time as if I wasn’t there (hence the poem). However, she did smile at a couple things I said…and that was enough to know that she could still see through me to my need…proof that all is ok with her. (also, hence the poem. 😉 ) The picture above is from that visit. 🙂
Bonus: Wonder if you are a Christian? This sermon gives you some good tools to figure it out.
Last thing: Struggle with “blank stares”? So did this songwriter (sad but wonderful)
OK…really the last thing. I have great parents. I very seldom mention my wonderful dad, only my step-dad, because of the topic at hand. To my Dad…thank you for making me the man I am. Thank you for your work ethic, your example, your patiently visiting your mom in the nursing home for many years while I seldom did, and for your love and belief in me! If you were in the same mess like mom is, I would be doing the same thing to bring awareness and to raise money. Thank you for the million things you have done for me that I have failed to thank you for and for always being there for me. Happy 80th, one more time, to you too. 🙂 I look forward to our party. 🙂 I look forward to seeing your wonderful bride as well! Be safe…see you soon, Dad. 🙂
(SDG)
Wonderful post! Loved your poem! Your sweet mom will be free someday and beat this disease by spending eternity in Heaven!
Amen