It’s been several years since Tom died of cancer. He was a good ole country boy, a retired railroader. He and his wife had several adult children who lived nearby. Tom’s house was situated on about an acre lot. The deep back yard gently sloped down to a small creek, bordered by a steep hill. The lush green yard was spattered with mature trees and spotted with ceramic animals, a bird bath, a wishing well and an old antique wagon wheel. Hanging from an old metal children’s swing set frame was a wooden porch swing, where Tom and I had some wonderful heart-to-heart conversations.

Tom’s immediate transparency surprised me. Within the first minutes of my initial visit, he admitted to episodes of discouragement. But he also quickly pointed to his source of encouragement. He handed me a copy of, “The Healing of the Mind and Soul in the Twenty-third Psalm”, by Charles Allen. It was a small pamphlet, about four by six inches in size and twenty-two pages in length. Tom shared, “Whenever I start getting discouraged, I read this pamphlet. When you break down the 23rd Psalm and really understand what it means for us to be sheep, and for God to be our shepherd, you get a lot of comfort from it.” It was apparent that Tom wasn’t just familiar with the psalm; he knew the Shepherd.

As I routinely do with hospice patients, I asked Tom and his wife if they had enough help and Tom replied, “If my children waited for me to ask for help, that grass out there would be up to my rear end by now. I don’t have to ask. My kids come in, look around, see, and do.”

As time passed, Tom’s condition declined, and he was admitted to our hospice room at the hospital for imminent death, (Before the construction of our current hospice center). Tom’s family was congregated in a visitors’ waiting area at the end of a corridor near Tom’s room. I shared with his children what Tom told me about their love and support. I admitted to them that their examples were not only inspiring but also convicting; that I was challenged to “examine myself,” (2 Corinthians 13:5). Do I come in, look around, see, and do? Do I take away the burden of asking, or do I wait to be called?” What about you?

“Open your eyes to the world all around you, open your eyes, open your eyes. The world is much more than the things that surround you, you must arise and open your eyes. Sometimes we’re too busy to share, but Jesus wants us to care, to care…And love a little bit stronger, and pray a little bit longer…Jesus says, when we love someone in his name, we’re loving Him. Jesus says, when we touch someone in His name, we’re touching Him,” (“Open Your Eyes”, song by Keith Green, available on YouTube).

“Let each of you look out not only for his own interests, but also for the interests of others.” (Philippians 2:4)

Loren Hardin was a social worker with SOMC-Hospice for twenty-nine years. He can be reached at 740-357-6091 or at [email protected]. You can order Loren’s book, “Straight Paths: Insights for living from those who have finished the course” at Amazon and Barnes and Noble.