Blessed are the Losers

There are those who,
through no fault of their own
are truly losers

but…

those who have experienced poverty
have greater compassion for the poor
than the rich could ever have

those who have experienced disease
are better suited to serve the weak
than those who have always been healthy

those who have, first-hand, experienced persecution
are more likely to defend the oppressed
than those who have always had peace

those who have experienced the death of a loved one
have a greater ability to empathize with those who grieve
than those who simply cannot understand

blessed are the losers:
for they have won so much more strength
than those who have never lost

~~

at dVerse, Mary wants us to explore the topic of winners and losers.  For some reason, the Beatitudes (found in the Bible in Matthew chapter 5) came to mind.  In his Sermon on the Mount, Jesus spoke of those that society looks down on, and explained why they are blessed.  I wanted to write something in a similar tone.

A Weight, Like Lead

a weight, like lead
sits in the pit of my stomach
a pain, greater than anything physical
permeates my entire being

tears come and go,
either refusing to come,
or coming in a flood

today, I go to say goodbye
to the man my wife calls “Daddy”
to the man I had the priviledge
of calling my father-in-law

he claimed it hurt
to have his hair cut
and so he let it
“wear off on his shoulders”
in the ponytail he wore
for longer than I ever knew him

involved for years
in leading Scouts
in helping children
learn to love the outdoors
as he himself did

a man who loved
to get grease on his hands
as he fixed engines…
first in cars,
and then in oilfield pumps

a man who was always healthy
my wife doesn’t remember him
ever taking sick days…
…always healthy, until the
last few months

the nurse who admitted him into ICU
told us that before they hooked him up
to all those machines,
while he could still talk,
he spoke with great love of
his 3 grandsons. My sons.

Then they hooked him up
to machines…to help his body recover…
to get his blood-pressure up…
to get his oxygen levels up…
to clean the blood
while they waited to see if his kidneys would recover

but sometimes,
God has other plans…
and instead of his organs recovering,
they continued to fail, and
his liver decided it was time to close shop too

today, we go
to say goodbye, as
the nurses are going to
turn off those machines

in truth,
Dad is already gone…he fell asleep
3 days ago, and hasn’t woken up since.
He’s gone, and all that remains
is his shell…hooked up
to pumps and tubes and machines
that give his shell the illusion of life

it’s hard to say goodbye
68 is far too young to go
…We love you Dad!

 

~~

 

Note: this was written on July 9 – the morning of the day that my Father-in-Law passed away.  I wanted to share this with my friends at dVerse for Open Link Night