Charlie used to work at a compressor factory, and he used to buy, restore, and resell old farm tractors. Charlie used to pastor several churches and he and his wife, Carolyn, used to conduct church services in local nursing homes. Charlie used to care for Carolyn when she was a hospice patient with Parkinson’s Disease. After Carolyn’s departure from this world, Charlie used to visit up to thirteen nursing home residents at “The Manor”. Charlie and I used to meet regularly at either Frisch’s or MacDonald’s, and boy did our time together nourish my soul. But Charlie can’t do what he used to, so now we meet at his daughter, Amy’s home, where Charlie now resides. Nevertheless, my time with Charlie still nourishes my soul.
Charlie and I have talked about how “time and chance” happen to every man, (Ecclesiastes 9:11); about how the present and the future aren’t always an extension of the past. We’ve talked about how each transition presents us with the question, “What else can I do?” We’ve talked about how with each stage of life we are faced with the developmental challenge of grieving the loss of what used to be, of reconstructing our lives and reinvesting ourselves, and how it’s by reinvesting ourselves that we continue to live, where we are, here and now. We’ve talked about how everything around us changes, but how God’s love for us has never changed.
I asked Charlie if he was doing any better physically and he replied, “I sure would like to drive again, but I’m starting to think that’s it’s not going to get any better, but there’s no sense worrying about it, what can I do about it? The way I look at it, worry is like a rocking chair; it gives you something to do, and you can exhaust yourself doing it, but it won’t get you anywhere.” We reflected upon how Noah, “being divinely warned of things not yet seen, moved with godly fear and prepared…,” (Hebrews 11:7). Therefore, we concluded that preparation is better than worry.
I asked Charlie if he’d been watching the news about The Middle East, the war between Israel and Hamas, and he replied, “Quite a bit, since I can’t get out anymore”. He then declared, “There’s a message I would like to preach one more time, but I don’t think that’s going to happen.” I asked him what the title of the message would be, and he replied, “Tell us”. Charlie reached for his Bible beside his chair and turned to Matthew Chapter 24 and read, “Tell us, when shall these things be and what shall be the sign of your coming and of the end of the world,” (Matthew 24:3). Charlie explained, “They said, ‘Tell us’, and He did; and I wouldn’t add anything to what He already told them.”
Amy’s father-in-law, Leslie, ducked into the room to say hello. When He did, I asked him if he thought that the world events were a sign of the “last days” and he replied, “I don’t think it’s the end, but I believe that it’s the beginning of the end. A lot of things must happen before Jesus returns to set up His kingdom upon earth.”
I’m no Bible scholar, but most of those I know who are, believe there’s nothing that needs to happen, historically or prophetically, before the rapture of the church. The Apostle Paul wrote, “For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first: Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up (raptured) together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord. Wherefore comfort one another with these words,” (I Thessalonians 4:16-18).
Steven Hunter died suddenly on his college tennis court at age twenty-one. One of Steven’s mottos was, “No worries. Why waste time. It’s all in God’s hands.” It’s been seventeen years, but I’ll never forget standing in the long reception line at Steven’s funeral with my wife, Susie, and our daughter, Jessie. Jessie had been a close friend of Steven. Steven’s father, Mark, gently placed his hand on Jessie’s shoulder and simply said, “Jessie, we need to be ready”.
I believe that none of us brush shoulders with mere mortals here on earth, for we will all live forever somewhere. We worry, debate, and wonder whether these are the “last days”, when our last days could be one breath or one heartbeat away. Therefore, in the words of my good friend Mark, “We need to be ready”.
“Life was filled with guns and wars, and everyone got trampled on the floor, I wish we’d all been ready. Children died, the days grew cold, a piece of bread could buy a bag of gold, I wish we’d all been ready. There’s no time to change your mind, the Son has come and you’ve been left behind…The Father spoke, the demons died, the Son has come, and you’ve been left behind, (“I wish we’d all been ready”, Larry Norman, 1969).
“Seek the Lord while He may be found, call upon Him while He is near,” (Isaiah 55:6).
Loren Hardin was a hospice social worker for twenty-nine years. He can be reached at lorenhardin53@gmail.com or at (740) 357-6091. You can purchase Loren’s book, “Straight Paths: Insights for living from those who have finished the course”, at Amazon.
