RB 4.47

And now it's our turn.

One minute someone is standing there, grilling burgers for dinner. The next minute you're in the ER while they're asking you (and another housemate, neither of whom knows anything about checking someone into the hospital) about Advanced Directives and using words like "survivable" or "not".

Funny thing is, my blogger's block had seemed to disappear, and I was all set to post something about my kids' service "reflections" and friendships and all sorts of other bloggishly-appropriate content. Instead, I spend just under 24 hours (minus maybe six hours) in an ICU waiting room*.

No one could remember the last time someone died while "on mission", living out in one of the houses — one of my housemate's been in community 30 years, and she said it was long before her time.

Note to self: Massive bleeding stroke and blood thinners don't mix.

I figure it'll hit us next week, when things are back to "normal" .... when we have prayer and dinner with an empty chair ...... when I drive to school without dropping her off first .....

And yet, just as it's beginning to sink in, it'll be the end of the school year, and a couple of us will be heading back to the Hill for the summer ..... where the absence won't be that noticeable, since I wouldn't have seen her much this summer anyway. And then next fall someone else will probably be moving in. So I'm not quite sure how or even if I'll fully be able to wrap my mind around all this.

So, yeah ...... whaddya say? Just another piece of community life, I guess.

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Oh, and the subject line? From Benedict's chapter on The Tools for Good Works. And what does that referenced line say? Day by day remind yourself you are going to die.

But Benedict shouldn't worry. Even if we forget to remember this on our own, God seems to do a great job of reminding us.

Sound too morbid for you? Let me give you a few bits of context: Place your hope in God alone. Yearn for everlasting life with holy desire. Day by day remind yourself you are going to die. Hour by hour keep careful watch over all you do, aware that God's gaze is upon you, wherever you may be. And finally, never lose hope in God's mercy.

The whole chapter is really good. Scroll down the link and read Chapter Four. Heck, read the whole Rule — it doesn't take all that long.

The moral of this story? Verse 73 .... If you have a dispute with someone, make peace with him before the sun goes down. Cuz you know neither the hour nor the day.

*And a big huge thank-you shout goes out to the Baptist East ICU staff, for all their wonderful phenomenalness to us about all of it. Just some amazingly accommodating sensitivity to everything. Thank you all for making such a tragic time that much more humane.