It's been a few days since I got a text message from one of the people in my LifeGroup. Their friend's cousin overdosed and was hospitalized and the prognosis wasn't good.
We (Lindsey and I) were on our way to a little "movie night" a different member of the LG's house to watch "Groundhog's Day" on Groundhog's day. By the time we'd arrived things had gotten worse. I had asked them to keep me posted, so no sooner had we arrived than it was time to turn around and leave. The opening credits of the movie had just began.
We arrived at Cox South and checked in, heading up to the ICU. Upon entering, we turned off our phones and headed to the bedside of a family whom we didn't even know.
The scene was typical of something in a primetime tv drama. A person, lying on a bed, surrounded by crying family members and friends and a whole lot of "Jesus". I hadn't heard His name so much all day as I heard it in that room that night.
"Jesus no..."
"Help him Jesus..."
"Oh God, Oh Jesus, Oh God..."
A whole lot of Jesus-talk was happening that night. It got me to thinking. I wonder what it is about crisis that causes us to call upon His name. Isnt' that so human? I'm that way, and my guess is you've found this to be true too.
Maybe it's because we're creatED and He's creatOR, but I've got to wonder what is it inside of us that cries out in our desperation to Him.
We stayed, we prayed, he died.
No miraculous end to this story. His blood pressure kept dropping and with it his chances for survival. When the chaplin comes in and began talking with the family it is never a good sign. Then people started to scream and sob as the reality of what was about to happen hit them.
Sad thing is he doesn't normally do drugs.
I wondered if I ever had seen him before. I wondered who God had placed in his life. I wonder who had reached out to him. We live in America, surely someone had, right? This is the land of the free and home of the brave. WE ARE AMERICAN!
Sure, we're in tough economic times, but we're still AMERICAN after all... we'll bounce-back. We always do. So who was it that told him about Christ? Was it too late or had he heard?
Where is he now? It's where he'll be forever.