This is the third and last part of this series about Charlie and his departed wife, Carolyn. Charlie cared for Carolyn at home for several years until it became all-consuming, and it can. As the Parkinson’s disease progressed, Carolyn’s life shriveled to an existence in a hospital bed in a small back bedroom with minimal contact with the outside world. Charlie had a plethora of health problems of his own and was exhausted. One day Charlie called and said, “Loren, I’m done for, I’m done; I’m ready for the fork.” Therefore, Carolyn was transferred to our Hospice Inpatient Center and arrangements were made to transfer Carolyn to “The Manor” in West Union.

I’m amazed at how Carolyn and Charlie’s lives were enriched and enlarged while at “The Manor”. They’d lived their entire lives in Adams County; therefore, many of the staff, as well as other residents and their families, knew Charlie and Carolyn. Sometimes I would either have to wait in line, or join the crowd, to visit Carolyn. Charlie even became the unofficial chaplain of “The Manor”, visiting a roster of as many as thirteen or fourteen other patients when he came to see Carolyn. It’s been two and a half years since Carolyn departed, and Charlie still visits patients at “The Manor”.

Charlie worked full time but also pastored local churches. He and Carolyn partnered to minister to the people of Adams County. Charlie testified, “Carolyn was generous, she was always ready to help someone in need. If we had all the money, we gave away throughout the years I could have provided Momma with a much nicer home.” One day I suggested to Carolyn, “Your life reminds me of the lyrics of the Ray Bolt song, ‘Thank you for giving to the Lord’”. Carolyn’s eyes welled with tears and she declared “I love that song.”

Now to the story at hand, here’s Charlie, “It was about fifteen years ago. I was at a service being preached by Tom, an old friend of mine. Tom was picking beans from all over the patch”. Charlie explained, “He was jumping from one thing to the other”. Charlie continued, “After the service there was a group of us standing outside the church and I told Tom, ‘Tom, you put me in mind of the Mountain Lion, and Tom asked, ‘What do you mean Charlie’”, then Charlie proceeded to tell Tom the story.

Here is my paraphrased version of Charlie’s story. “Once upon a time there was a farmer and his wife who had a small herd of scrawny cattle. The farmer told his wife, ‘We need to buy us a prize bull to improve the quality of our stock’. So, they gathered their life’s savings and purchased an expensive prize bull and released it into their pasture. That night a hungry mountain lion, on the prowl, stood upon a rock outcropping, looked down and saw the bull. He said to himself, ‘Man, that’s some prime beef!’ So, he jumped down upon the bull’s back and killed that bull graveyard dead. After eating his fill, he jumped back upon the rock. He was so proud of himself that he let out a loud roar. When the farmer heard the roar, he grabbed his gun and ran out to the pasture. When he saw what the mountain lion had done to his prize bull, he shot that mountain lion graveyard dead.” After telling Tom the story, Charlie asked, “Tom, do you know what the moral of the story is?” Tom replied, ‘No’, and Charlie explained, ‘Tom, when you’re full of bull you shouldn’t draw attention to yourself’”.

Charlie explained, “Tom hadn’t been bragging, I just wanted to lay one on him. He had a really good sense of humor and he could dish it out himself. When people tease and kid with you, you know they like you. Tom was teased about that for a long time. Everywhere he went people would ask him, ‘Tom, have you had any good beef lately?’ I think he kind of enjoyed it.”

Putting all kidding aside for a moment, God doesn’t look too fondly upon boasting. Following are just a few of the numerous Biblical references to boasting; “The boastful shall not stand in your sight…,” (Psalm 5:5); “I said to the boastful, ‘Do not deal boastfully…’ (Psalm 75:4-5); “For who makes you to differ from one another and what do you have that you did not receive? Now if you did indeed receive it, why do you boast as if you had not received it? (1 Corinthians 4:6-7); “Shall the axe boast against the one who chops with it? Or shall the saw exalt itself against him who saws with it…, (Isaiah 10:15); “For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast,” (Ephesians 2:8). And the Apostle Paul wrote, “God forbid that I should boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ,” (Galatians 6: 14); “…of myself I will not boast, except in my infirmities; for though I might desire to boast, I will not be a fool; for I will speak the truth. But I refrain, lest anyone should think of me above what he sees me to be or hears from me,” (2 Corinthians 12:5-6).

I can’t help but think that if someone had warned that mountain lion, he may still be alive today. It’s too late for that mountain lion but it’s not too late for us.

Loren Hardin is a social worker with SOMC-Hospice and can be reached at 740-357-6091 or at lorenhardin53@gmail.com. You can order Loren’s book, “Straight Paths: Insights for living from those who have finished the course”, at Amazon and Barnes and Noble.