Just Stay

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 lighted ward, 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………….

The next time
someone needs you … just be there.  Stay.

**************

 WE ARE NOT
HUMAN BEINGS GOING THROUGH A 

TEMPORARY SPIRITUAL EXPERIENCE.

WE ARE SPIRITUAL BEINGS GOING THROUGH A TEMPORARY HUMAN EXPERIENCE.

GOD IS SO GOOD.