Glimpses of Heaven

“To everything there is a season, a time for every purpose under heaven.”

-Ecclesiastes 3:1 (NKJV)

This season’s finale of PBS’s Call the Midwife brought tears to my eyes.   Birth is the theme of this show, but this episode focused on the death, due to cancer, of one of the midwife's (Chummy) mother.  The mother had been distant, cold, and judgmental of Chummy and as a result, as her mother lay dying, Chummy couldn't bear to touch her.  A nun who was present explained how important touch is to someone who is dying and with her encouragement, Chummy loving attended to her mother giving her a manicure.  Chummy said her nurse’s uniform was her armor but she finally removed it and lay beside her mother who drew her last breath.   Another young midwife, Jenny, who had lost her boyfriend in an accident decided her calling was no longer as a midwife, but to nurse the terminally ill.  

I have been reading the book Glimpses of Heaven that was written by a Catholic hospice nurse who tended to many patients, including close family and friends, during her thirty-three career.  In the book she recounts how God helps transition patients to death through visions.  She loving cared for the patients who many times die at home surrounded by family.   Youth is so celebrated in our society it is hard to even contemplate aging and death.  Most deaths occur in the hospital and not in the comfort of one's home surrounded by loving family.  Because we often do not see death as a transition to a better life, we are reminded of our fears by others’ illnesses and death.  What was amazing about these hospice patients was how they were so happy and at peace at the end, as God carried their souls to heaven.

It is very sad, when someone leaves this life too soon due to illness, neglect, or an accident.  These souls are not able to complete their human journey.  But I have been thinking we can change our view of death so that the sick and old feel the loving touch of human hands as God calls them forward.