An elderly woman wonders why...
Illustration
An elderly woman wonders why she is still here. She lives in a nursing home, in failing health, unable to care for herself, and dependent upon others for basic needs. Bitter and sad, she says to her pastor, "I wish I could just die, but since I'm still here I guess God must have something he wants me to do first. Will you pray that I can find whatever it is God wants me to do?" The pastor agrees, "I'll pray that prayer, but only if you promise to help God out by looking for the thing God wants you to do." She concurred and they prayed.
A month later the pastor went to visit again, and when he arrived at her room, the woman was smiling. "I found it!" she said. "I found what God wants me to do! Let me show you. Push me down the hall!" So they went down the hall, and around several corners, and the woman greeted everyone she saw. She said hello to the other residents, she conversed with nurses and the housekeepers, she smiled at everyone and everyone smiled at her. She took people by the hand and told them how nice they looked. She talked sports with a man wearing a Yankees cap and she laughed with the group in the day room doing craft projects. Finally she instructed the pastor, "Turn in at the next door." It was her room. They had made a full circle.
"I don't understand," said the pastor. "I thought you were going to show me what it is that God wants you to do before you die."
"I just did!" she said with exasperation. "I realized a few weeks ago that God wants me to be Christ while I am alive. I decided that Jesus wouldn't hang around in this room feeling sorry for himself, but would go meet people and help them to feel loved. So that's what I plan to do until the day I die."
A month later the pastor went to visit again, and when he arrived at her room, the woman was smiling. "I found it!" she said. "I found what God wants me to do! Let me show you. Push me down the hall!" So they went down the hall, and around several corners, and the woman greeted everyone she saw. She said hello to the other residents, she conversed with nurses and the housekeepers, she smiled at everyone and everyone smiled at her. She took people by the hand and told them how nice they looked. She talked sports with a man wearing a Yankees cap and she laughed with the group in the day room doing craft projects. Finally she instructed the pastor, "Turn in at the next door." It was her room. They had made a full circle.
"I don't understand," said the pastor. "I thought you were going to show me what it is that God wants you to do before you die."
"I just did!" she said with exasperation. "I realized a few weeks ago that God wants me to be Christ while I am alive. I decided that Jesus wouldn't hang around in this room feeling sorry for himself, but would go meet people and help them to feel loved. So that's what I plan to do until the day I die."
