Last week, on a very hot, humid summer afternoon, I was called to be a chaplain with folks keeping vigil on a high river bank, waiting for divers to find the body of a young man, presumed drowned. I arrived on the scene soon after the rescue folk...and before his family began to arrive. It seems that a group of young people were doing what young people sometimes do on hot summer days...they were swimming, drinking, and having fun. The young woman who tried to save him was alternating between hysteria and interacting with her friends in a "normal" way. The palpable tension was a study in contrast to the peaceful setting...the river flowing over rocks, the green shadows of the woods, the smell of the earth and the water...As I watched his mother rush down over the rocks and railroads tracks that had to be navigated to get to the site, I thought about how it is...a day among days...when you are working, maybe complaining about gas prices and the heat, and the call comes, and in an instant everything changes...everything. Nothing will ever be the same.
The images of that day will stay with me for a long time, as well. That night my restless dreams were filled with images of the river, of tears and pain and waiting, of young, healthy bodies filled with life, on the edge of death. My heart was heavy, my soul felt bruised. Interestingly, I felt this intense ache and sadness until his body was found, some 24hrs after he drowned. I was surprised that it began to ease after that...surprised, actually, that I felt so affected by it...I am used to entering the suffering with people, I spend my days standing in the gap between life and death with people...the dying and those who love them. I am a hospice chaplain...it is a ministry of presence....being willing and able, by the grace of God, to walk that journey with folks, often walking just ahead of them to lead the way, so to speak.
Lots of mystery...lots to ponder. As I said, this one will stay with me for a very long time. I know it is a "cliche" but, tell your loved ones that you love them, and savor every bit of this sweet, sweet life.