Simply....Just be there

I was once asked the question why.  Why do I go to spend time with people I barely know?  When I am beckoned why do I go without reservation?  To answer that question, I mention my father’s death.  There were those in the days following his passing he said very little to me but were simply there.  They willingly offered their shoulder to cry on, their ears to listen, and their heart to love and care.  They didn’t have to say anything, they were simply….there.  I have been preaching on the “Sermon on the Mount” during our Sunday morning services and the message itself to me has been thought provoking, eye opening, and spirit convicting.  As I prepared for this Sunday’s message, this verse jumped out at me:

"In everything, therefore, treat people the same way you want them to treat you, for this is the Law and the Prophets. (Matthew 7:12)

I thought about when my father died and wondered about what I needed most.  What I needed most more than anything is people simply being there.  I read this story a few days ago and I want to share it with you.

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A nurse took the tired, anxious serviceman to the bedside. "Your son is here," she said to the old man. She had to repeat the words several times before the patient's eyes opened.

Heavily sedated because of the pain of his heart attack, he dimly saw the young uniformed Marine standing outside the oxygen tent. He reached out his hand. The Marine wrapped his toughened fingers around the old man's limp ones, squeezing a message of love and encouragement..

The nurse brought a chair so that the Marine could sit beside the bed.All through the night the young Marine sat there in the poorly lightedward, holding the old man's hand and offering him words of love and strength. Occasionally, the nurse suggested that the Marine move away and rest awhile.

He refused. Whenever the nurse came into the ward, the Marine was oblivious of her and of the night noises of the hospital - the clanking of the oxygen tank, the laughter of the night staff members exchanging greetings, the cries and moans of the other patients.

Now and then she heard him say a few gentle words. The dying man said nothing, only held tightly to his son all through the night.

Along towards dawn, the old man died. The Marine released the now lifeless hand he had been holding and went to tell the nurse. While she did what she had to do, he waited.

Finally, she returned. She started to offer words of sympathy, but the Marine interrupted her. "Who was that man?" he asked. The nurse was startled, "He was your father," she answered. "No, he wasn't," the Marine replied. "I never saw him before in my life." "Then why didn't you say something when I took you to him?" "I knew right away there had been a mistake, but I also knew he needed his son, and his son just wasn't here.

When I realized that he was too sick to tell whether or not I was his son, knowing how much he needed me, I stayed." I came here tonight to find a Mr. William Grey. His Son was killed in Iraq today, and I was sent to inform him. What was this Gentleman's Name? The Nurse with Tears in Her Eyes Answered, Mr. William Grey.............

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The most powerful difference we can make in a person’s life is not by something we can say, it is by simply being there.  Offer your shoulder to cry on, your ears to listen, and your heart to love.  You don’t necessarily need to say anything.  Sometimes the best thing we can say is really nothing at all.  Just simply be there, there are others who will have plenty to say and sometimes it is not necessarily the right thing, you don’t need to be numbered with them, you just simply need to be remembered for being there.  That is what I want to do.  I simply want to be there.  I was told once that as a pastor I am a representative and ambassador of God and by simply being there, I can serve as a reminder that God is near.  I like to go deeper with that….I think it is true for any Christian.