Crazy Church Services
By: Dr. Jeff Fuller
The emergency room of
the hospital is an unlikely place to find a church service going on, but this
is what Tina and Granny Ruby participated in just a few weeks ago. Well, actually the word “participated” is not
the correct word; it was more like they were caught in the crossfire.
Several weeks ago,
Granny was taken to an emergency room because she was dehydrated and very
sick. Tina accompanied her and stayed by
her side the entire time. After triage,
they were placed in a “ward” with three beds, separated by curtains.
Once settled into the
ward, with Granny as the only patient in this particular room, the nurses began
the process of attempting to find what may be the culprit for Granny. Fluids were attached, medication was
administered, and for the most part the word I was getting by text messaging
was that it was going to be a long night.
While Tina was texting
me, sharing her feelings about having to wait on results to test being
conducted on Ruby and the frustration of a full emergency room, the text turned
to play-by-plays regarding the additions to the ward. While I am sharing these messages with you, I
would love to fill in the blanks along the way, but I cannot write fiction as
well as sharing the reality of the moment.
“We are now next to a
major looney tooney…crazy…needing Haldol in a hurry!” Tina typed.
My response was a
typical male response, as I was not really paying attention and quite sleepy, “Huh?”
Tina responded with, “They
have just brought a major psycho in next to us.”
I excused my question
with, “Oh, I thought you were talking about yourself.”
None too rattled, Tina
typed, “No…now two…oh my Lord! Ok, now
we officially have three of a kind.
Three queens, or at least they think they are! Pitiful!”
A once empty ward was
filling up rapidly. Granny was now not
alone and neither was Tina. In the beds
around the four person ward, the attendants had arrived with two more
women. One was a potential patient
heading toward committal and the other was someone who goes from emergency room
to emergency room, seeking some type of relief to a conceived medical problem.
My response was, “Entertainment
has arrived.”
Tina was typing
furiously now, “I told one of the nurses to get me some Haldol and I would be
glad to show her how to use it! One
crazy wants a lawyer and her pastor; the one across the way gave her the name
of her lawyer! Behind curtain number
three, she is Medea, needing a Prozac now!”
It was sounding like
Tina was having fun, and I just yawned as I read the text.
Tina asked, “You want
to be the lawyer?”
Afraid Tina was about
to mention my name, I replied, “No, not the pastor either.”
While one was stationed
on one end of the large room, the other was on the other end, and each was pouring
out their struggles and heartaches. Tina
advised, “Medea is mouthing major. ‘We
have no problems.’ All three have man
problems; said their men have driven them crazy!”
The entire time, Ruby
and Tina are in the middle of all this spectacle. Ruby is wanting to know what is going on and
Tina is attempted to keep both of them safe.
Tina is afraid that at any minute the other patients will include them
in the storm brewing within the walls of the ward; the room gets smaller and
smaller. Added to this, the nurses had
heard the commotion in the ward and shut the sliding door, thus preventing any
escape, even by the two sane ones in the crowd.
Tina types, “Update:
Medea’s son and man have come into the ward.”
This was not to be any
comfort to anyone, even my girls, as they had already taken time for confession;
they had already confessed that the men in their lives had been the reason they
are in the position they found themselves in at the present time.
Tina continues the
commentary, by texting, “Now curtain number one is said to ‘chill out dude and give
me something for my head’…A true drug seeker.
Medea has thrown a chair and gotten drug seeker crying and
freaking…where are the TV cameras?”
My sweet wife has a
good question. Without the cameras, this
reality is almost more than we can believe.
But, believe me, this really happened.
“Now they are preaching
to each other and casting out demons!
I’d pass the plate but I’m afraid what may come back in it,” Tina typed.
Relief finally came for
Ruby and Tina, as they were wheeled out of the ward and repositioned them to
the cardiac unit. But this left the
three queens on their own, to face whatever the future held. As for my two lovely girls, they were now
safe and sound in the care of some very patient and understanding nurses, who
had heard the commotion on the other hall.
In very unlikely
places, church services are conducted.
Even though this sounded more like a free for all, there are some
lessons to learn. One of those lessons
is simple and obvious: these three woman came to a place of medical services to
find help for their problems. We also
must learn that we are to go to God for help with our problems. Our help in time of need will not be found in
the multitude of devices and distractions of this world, but only in the place
of refuge.
Secondly, confession is
good for the soul. We are to confess our
sins to God and to one to another, doing whatever is required of us in the Word
of God to make the changes necessary to live the life of Christ-likeness in
this world. It is not the easiest thing
to do, but you will find blessing in the sweet relief of His Son’s cleansing
flood and forgiving grace.
Lastly, stay close to
Him as He administers the healing only He can give. Too many rush in and rush out of His
presence, without a glimpse of His power and purifying touch upon our
lives. We must take time to bathe in His
light of mercy and allow Him to pull and pluck out those things which are
contrary to His ways for our life.
I am reminded of Isaiah
writings today. I believe this would
apply to us:
“Those who trust in the Lord will renew their strength;
they will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not
grow weary; they will walk and not faint.” (Isaiah 40:31 HCSB)
Until next time…
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