Jesus is the Man

If you weren't aware I am volunteering with a local hospice this semester. Today I shadowed another chaplain to a patient's home. The patient, a beautiful woman of 58 years, is dying of Lou Gehrig's disease. This disease has taken her voice (kind of) but her soft and sensitive spirit is alive and well. We'll call this lady Mary to honor her privacy. Mary communicates via keyboard and speaker, which she carries on her lap in her motorized scooter. Throughout the visit Mary was a joy to be around. She likes to tell jokes and hear jokes; it brightens her day. She told us that what makes her emotional is talking about God. There were several points when I was fighting back tears as I heard this woman talk about her faith in God and how the Spirit had become real to her, to the point of removing all fear about what lies next. My favorite part of the visit came when the chaplain had read Mary a story from Mark 2 in which four men carry a paralytic to Jesus to be healed. Jesus, doing what he does, forgives this person of his sins and subsequently heals the man. At the conclusion of the story Mary began typing away on her keyboard and after about 30 seconds a little computerized voice proclaimed, "Jesus is the man." Mary then bowed her head a little, put a tissue to her lips, and began to cry. I think she knows this Jesus.