Tag Archives: satisfaction

Why Should I Get Involved?

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The second prayer in Ten Prayers God Always Says Yes To is God, Make Me An Instrument. The chapter is called Why Should I Get Involved, and talks about the many ways God sends suffering people our way when we say this prayer. Here is an excerpt from this chapter:

When you say to God, “Make me an instrument,” all God really has to do is channel some of these folks in your direction. There’s no need for him to perform any great miracles. No need for him to part the Red Sea. No need for him to send angels. He simply has to steer them your way. Like a conductor in a railway station who pulls a lever in order to make the tracks switch, God simply pulls a lever in heaven, and a veritable trainload of suffering people will automatically be rerouted in your direction! Then it’s up to you. You’ll have to figure out the best way to help them. It may be as simple as offering a kind word of advice or lending them a few dollars; it may be as difficult as donating a kidney or saving their life in a fire. Whatever you have to do, though, you can be sure that you will be able to rise to the occasion. If God sends you someone to assist, he is also going to give you the time, the resources, and the wherewithal to do it.

It was 1999 when forced retirement found me with so much time on my hands, I said a similar prayer, but instead of “God, make me an instrument” my words were more like “Please send me someone to help.” Looking back, I can see where that prayer led me to volunteer work in a long term care facility, and in 2000 into caring for my own life partner who developed Parkinson’s Disease and Alzheimer’s. That was the peak experience of my being an “instrument”, as it eventually became a 24/7 caregiving assignment until his death in 2007. Today I am a member of the Pastoral Care Team at church, and God has sent several people my way who need either a shoulder to cry on, an ear to listen or just a hug. I love being “an instrument” even though I never considered myself as such.

Monday: What’s In It for Me? … God, Outdo Me in Generosity

 

A Garden Full of Flowers

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I have met many different people while visiting long-term care facilities, nursing homes and hospitals, as part of my volunteer duties.

One man I met, Mr. Flowers, was an amputee, and while he had no legs from above the knees, he sat high in his wheel chair and had a commanding presence. He was of sound mind, whereas some of his fellow residents had lost this faculty, and Mr. Flowers often found it difficult to find someone to talk to. He had been a high school teacher in his working years, and it was easy to engage him in conversation.

When he learned that I wrote poetry, he asked me to write a poem specifically for him. Being the kind of man he was, and his unusual name, it didn’t take me very long to come up with the following poem:

A Garden Full of Flowers

      (for Mr. Flowers)

 A garden full of flowers

when tended with great care

or tended not at all

if wildflower seed is planted there

will reap its keeper plenitude

in fragrant showy splendor

and bring the memory of spring

come blustery December.

Blooms spring forth upon the mind,

deep wine rose and purple phlox,

daffodils of yellow,

multicolored hollyhocks

replace the snow and blizzards

in the darkened winter hours

and keep alive in mind’s great eye

that garden full of flowers.

©Patricia Ann Boyes

March 7, 2005

You would think I had given him back his legs when he read that poem! He beamed the brightest smile that nursing home had seen in a very long while, and I got a hug that almost toppled him out of the wheel chair.

What a blessing to see the happiness a string of words, placed in the right order on a simple piece of paper could bring to a person.

Mr. Flowers, who didn’t seem to have any religious affiliations whatsoever, shouted, “God bless you!” as I entered the elevator to leave that day’s visiting behind.

“He already has, Mr. Flowers,” I said, “He already has!”