As I spend a weekend in Lynchburg, Virginia at my friends
Waldron & Georgia Scott’s house a few things come to mind, for starters,
after Waldron’s fall this past April and his last stroke as well, and even
though he has made a remarkable recovery, he is still somewhat limited in his
mobility. Georgia is devoting her life to his wellbeing, in every possible
aspect that she is able to, from changing him, bathing him, helping him get up
from the bed and/or the sofa and get him onto the wheelchair, then rolling him from
room to room. She was telling me that they had gone across the street to eat at
a restaurant enjoying the warm weather, and as I helped take him for a ride
down to same restaurant I could not but notice that at many times there are
steep climbs and it is not easy getting back and forth to this place. My point
here is that Waldron is extremely fortunate to have somebody at his side who is
putting into full practice the “in good times and in bad, in sickness and in
health” wedding vows that we commit ourselves to at the time of marriage. I
guess when we say those words we don’t really think about those days and that
they may eventually come.
The last time that I witnessed such dedication was between my parents. My mother had a heart condition for many years, and she spent the last seven and half months of her life in a hospital. In that period my father went almost every day regardless of the day of the week, season, weather, during Christmas, New Year, and her birthday even though by then she was unconscious.
What comes to mind are the words of Paul in his first letter to the Corinthians:
“3 If I give all I possess to the poor and give over my body to hardship that I may boast,[b] but do not have love, I gain nothing. 4 Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. 5 It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. 6 Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. 7 It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.8 Love never fails. But where there are prophecies, they will cease; where there are tongues, they will be stilled; where there is knowledge, it will pass away. 9 For we know in part and we prophesy in part, 10 but when completeness comes, what is in part disappears. 11 When I was a child, I talked like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I put the ways of childhood behind me. 12 For now we see only a reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known. 13 And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love.”
Georgia is not in great health either. But she is sacrificing everything for Waldron. She does everything with patience, tolerance, understanding, respect and primarily love.
I am proud and blessed that, not only can I call them my friends, but that they consider me a friend as well. Although the journey from New Jersey is not exactly a short one, I am extremely happy to come and visit them, as I feel that I get more from my visit than what I feel I can give them, and I have been fortunate enough to come a few times since they move from Paterson to Lynchburg.
The last time that I witnessed such dedication was between my parents. My mother had a heart condition for many years, and she spent the last seven and half months of her life in a hospital. In that period my father went almost every day regardless of the day of the week, season, weather, during Christmas, New Year, and her birthday even though by then she was unconscious.
What comes to mind are the words of Paul in his first letter to the Corinthians:
“3 If I give all I possess to the poor and give over my body to hardship that I may boast,[b] but do not have love, I gain nothing. 4 Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. 5 It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. 6 Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. 7 It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.8 Love never fails. But where there are prophecies, they will cease; where there are tongues, they will be stilled; where there is knowledge, it will pass away. 9 For we know in part and we prophesy in part, 10 but when completeness comes, what is in part disappears. 11 When I was a child, I talked like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I put the ways of childhood behind me. 12 For now we see only a reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known. 13 And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love.”
Georgia is not in great health either. But she is sacrificing everything for Waldron. She does everything with patience, tolerance, understanding, respect and primarily love.
I am proud and blessed that, not only can I call them my friends, but that they consider me a friend as well. Although the journey from New Jersey is not exactly a short one, I am extremely happy to come and visit them, as I feel that I get more from my visit than what I feel I can give them, and I have been fortunate enough to come a few times since they move from Paterson to Lynchburg.
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