Mr. Silva is blogging about seeing beauty in life.
The current state of publishing has me thinking about the future.
It’s hard not to these days. Everywhere you look there’s another announcement of the electronic squashing print. I imagine this big trash-can-head robot stomping books into the mud and I have to set down my quill and cry a little into my ink-stained tea mug.
(Imagine people wanting to move to the space station on Mars just to get away from the disturbing technological society we’ve created on Earth. It isn’t so far fetched to consider–the sci-fi writers are all wondering why I’d even bring it up.)
If you are looking for something beautiful…I’ve found it for you. It is NOT for the weak at heart, however.
I have spent the last 3 days in an ICU at a hospital 50 miles from here. I got involved in a family I really don’t know because the hospital made some really BAD errors with treatment and the patient’s husband flipped out.
I’m a big guy and was asked to, “control” the husband and still lend a Christian flavor to the whole thing.
The husband and I hit it off at once. He was going to mash my face in! I got him to sit down and quietly discuss what happened. I won’t go into details, but let’s just say we had a wife who was improving one night and by the next morning, she was near death!
I just basically listened to the husband and his anguish. Others from our church came… they were afraid of him… and his statement that he’d lost his Christian faith. I just listened and didn’t judge his words. Grief was his main companion and he needed to vent!
I listened to his family’s life story; When he was in 4th. grade, he prayed to God to let him marry Barbara. When he was in jr. high, he prayed that he would be allowed to marry Barbara.
After high school graduation he and Barbara were married. They had two great kids. Their marriage had fewer marriage-traumas than most couples’. They never traveled far, never spent a lot, and managed to keep their love alive all through the years; 46 years.
Dave, the husband has “slept” with his head on the edge of Barbara’s hospital beds for the last 61 days.
He averages 2 hours sleep per night. He is very lonesome as Barbara is not responsive. She is depending on life support.
Dave had re-found his faith as I knew he would. He is praying and hoping for a miracle.
Barbara’s last words before slipping off into her coma, ” I just wish I could go outside and run and jump and sing and ride a horse, one more time.”
The doctors have little hope left for Barbara.
The kids feel pretty much the same way.
I felt honored and very blessed to be included in this family’s trials here at Barbara’s end time.
I’ve seen such power in the family that can only come from their faith in the Lord.
I’ve seen folks from our church go out of their way to do kindnesses for this family.
I wasn’t looking for something beautiful at the time… but I found it in seeing God’s love and mercy at work in an old-fashioned Christian family. I’ve never been so blessed.