The nurse took =
the tired, anxious serviceman to the bedside. "Your son is =
here," she said to the old man. She had to repeat the words several =
times before the patient’s eyes opened.
Heavily =
sedated because of the pain of his failing heart, he dimly saw the young =
uniformed Marine standing outside the oxygen tent. He reached out his =
hand. The Marine wrapped his toughened fingers around the old man’s limp =
ones, squeezing a message of love and =
encouragement.
The nurse =
brought a chair so that the Marine could sit beside the bed. All through =
the night the young Marine sat there in the poorly lighted ward, holding =
the old man’s hand and offering him words of love and strength. =
Occasionally, the nurse suggested that the Marine move away and rest =
awhile.
He refused. =
Whenever the nurse came into the ward, the Marine was oblivious of her =
and of the night noises of the hospital — the clanking of the oxygen =
tank, the laughter of the night staff members exchanging greetings, the =
cries and moans of the other patients.
Now and then =
she heard him say a few gentle words. The dying man said nothing, only =
held tightly to his son all through the night. Along towards dawn, the =
old man died. The Marine released the now lifeless hand he had been =
holding and went to tell the nurse. While she did what she had to do, he =
waited.
Finally, she =
returned. She started to offer words of sympathy, but the Marine =
interrupted her.
"Who was =
that man?" he asked.
The nurse was =
startled, "He was your father," she =
answered.
"No, he =
wasn’t," the Marine replied. "I never saw him before in my =
life."
"Then why =
didn’t you say something when I took you to =
him?"
"I knew =
right away there had been a mistake, but I also knew he needed his son, =
and his son just wasn’t here. When I realized that he was too sick to =
tell whether or not I was his son, knowing how much he needed me, I =
stayed."
The next time =
someone needs you, just be there. Stay.
We are not =
human beings going through a temporary spiritual experience. We are =
spiritual beings going through a temporary human =
experience.
[Source =
unknown]
~~
Dr Bob Griffin =
[email protected] =
www.grif.net
"Jesus =
Knows Me, This I Love!"