Dad died January 6th of ‘85, Mom died January 4th three years ago. My brother-in-law died today. And I’ve heard of other deaths the past few days. Over time you see it’s an unavoidable truth that death and serious illness cluster around Christmas. Mom was in the hospital due to strokes during December twice.
I think one of the biggest blights on American Christianity is our neglect of the sick, the elderly, the shut-in, and the bereaved. When you have a loved one die, people come around for a few days. And then the silence of the house is deafening. Nobody checks up on you.
Ministry to people in nursing homes and assisted living facilities does pick up during Christmas, thank the Lord. Carolers visit, children’s groups fix goody bags and deliver them to residents. Visitation from family members increases during that time as well. But then things die down right after again. You get some pick up for Easter Sunday. And some for Mothers’ Day. But some folks are largely forgotten. Some family members neglect their loved ones altogether, holding on to old grudges.
You have those who devote regular time to ministry to these folks. You have folks who do church services weekly, or occasional music ministry, in assisted living facilities. I know of ministers who visit former church members. But there tend to be way too many gaps. The sorrow of being forgotten by those we have devoted so much of our lives to is as big a killer as anything. It’s especially true at Christmas, when everybody wants to be gathered with loved ones around hearth and home, whether or not they can.
Understand that that handshake you give to that little old lady at church might be the only physical contact she has with another person all week. But if your life is busy, it would never occur to you.
Most of us at some point have people in our lives that fit into one of those categories. Everybody has to decide for himself what his role in remedying the problem is. But it is a problem, there’s no doubt.
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