Hey, learn to look at who is around you…

There are those times when people shine and cannot be ignored. I want to pay honor in some way to them and see them. See them for the courage and strength I think they display daily. In seeing the strength and the courage these people choose to display; causes me to compare myself with these people. This shows me my little struggle is nothing and in humility I gotta admit I lack a certain level of compassion and empathy. This is why this letter is written to me.

I am staying at a respite. It is a county-run respite for people who cannot afford or whose insurance is not top-notch. It is a good choice and I am receiving great care. I had surgery to correct a condition which was causing paralysis. The other residents are all very nice and God has blessed me by placing me here. I know God didn’t stop there.

I am 62 and to see people in their 20s and 30s here dying of various diseases has caused me to humble reflection. Some are in great pain all the time. Cirrhosis is extremely painful. To be so young, 20s, with this disease what can I say. There are several people with lung cancer. My roommate has this and every morning there is blood on his pillow from coughing. He is 35, the nicest person I have talked with in a while. The person in the other cubical next to me is 24 and dying. The man across from me has 3rd degree burns on his chest and arms. He gets regular skin grafts that are stapled onto the burnt parts of his body. Needless to say, there is real suffering here. Much more than my little surgery. The suffering is not what I want to write about. It’s the courage I see and hear that I am impressed with. People who I imagine must be afraid of death. They greet me with a good morning while I am grouchy cause I didn’t get a cup of coffee on time or I slept wrong. It will cause you to look at yourself, Warren, and evaluate some things. These people, and this is just one of hundreds of respites, set the example of courage and strength. Every one of them I talk to is positive there will be some cure for them. I have not yet heard one of them complain. I have only heard myself. I do not want to wait till 100 to choose to honor these people. I can honor them by having more compassion and empathy. How by talking about God and His Son and the gift He has for us and you. This gift being free for us to choose cost Jesus Christ to choose to endure all that you and I do not have to out of love. Yes I can honor them by explaining there is a wonderful afterlife if we choose Jesus Christ out of Faith. If not we still can expect an afterlife, not so wonderful. To not choose Christ now, Warren is to choose separation from Him. Too late to choose Jesus then.

Love from yourself.    Warren

P.S. Love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. The greatest is love.