My Mom Died

This morning I received a call from my brother, Terry. It is not usual that I get a call from him, especially in the morning. When I saw his name on the caller ID, I thought I was in for news about Mom. I thought she might have died; I thought something might have happened and she had been taken to the hospital. I was right.

The nursing center had just called him to say that our mother had passed from this life. She had been declining substantially in her mental functions in recent weeks. So I was not surprised.

I called my sister to inform her. She had the same experience as I; seeing my name on the caller ID, she was braced for what I had to tell her.

We both took the news well, at least initially. I shed some tears an hour or so later, after talking with Mom's nurse. She assured me that Mom had had a pleasant morning, ate a nice breakfast and slipped away peacefully between 10:30 and 11:00 after finishing her mid-morning snack. It was just exactly what I have prayed for, that she would go quickly and peacefully.

Thank you Jesus for my Mom and the hope I have of seeing her again - but in perfect health next time. I hold onto this hope, not just a hope of seeing my mother again, but seeing her fully healthy and fully satisfied.

My mom had a decent life in America, but a life of struggle. My dad was not a good husband, to say the least. After divorcing him, she never remarried. Though she loved her children dearly, we were busy with our own family lives in adulthood. I'm sure she battled a lot of loneliness. She struggled with health issues of various kinds. At least a couple of decades ago, she had a viral infection that destroyed her sense of smell. This largely impaired her enjoyment of food. Her brain had been deteriorating in recent years - short-term memory almost non-existent for the past two years. Thankfully, she knew us kids to the end, though she could hardly communicate in recent weeks. So, my hope is that Mom is in that place where she is whole and there is no distraction from the joy of Life.

Calling on Jesus

On its landing approach to the airport in Buffalo on February 12th, Continental Connection Flight 3407 stalled and crashed into a residence. All 49 on the plane and one person on the ground died that day. The National Transportation Safety Board released the transcript of the cockpit voice recorder today. An Associated Press report on that transcript says that the pilot’s last words were “Jesus Christ!”.

As I read this, I could not help but wonder about the meaning of that utterance from a man who knew he was about to die. Understand this: I am making no judgment of the man or his faith. I do not know anything about him beyond what was reported.

I see two possible meanings to this utterance with a world of difference between them. The first meaning would be that of a believer crying out to his Lord in a moment of crisis. I have contemplated a crash of a plane upon which I was a passenger. I imagined that, if I had a few seconds before I would die, I would passionately cry out to my Lord Jesus. The second meaning is terribly unfortunate and terribly common. That “Jesus Christ” is an expletive. If that was the pilot’s meaning, he might as well have shouted, “holy sh_ _!”.

Proverbs 18:10 says, “The name of the Lord is a strong tower; the righteous run to it and are safe.” For the name of the Lord to be a strong tower, a place of spiritual safety, that name must be properly used. It cannot be used in just any manner. If I don’t like what is on my TV, I can pick up the remote control and change the channel (well, I’m a man, so I probably don’t have to pick it up; I’m already holding it). I could also eliminate the objectionable content on the TV screen by throwing that remote through the screen. Just as how I use the remote can make great difference, how I use the name of the Lord makes an even greater difference.

Jesus Christ is not a curse word; He is Lord of all. The Bible tells of a day when “every knee shall bow” at that Wonderful Name (Phil 2:10). If you have not yet done so, I encourage you to get to know this Lord Jesus and call on His Name in the way that saves. By all means, don’t wait until your final few seconds to cry out to Him. Desperation is now! The Savior awaits the earnest cry of your heart.