Today if you Hear His Voice

I called my old friend Comer to see if I could come interview him for his role in my new book. He just turned 93 years old, and I know that if I want to get his whole story, I cannot dawdle. Every day left for Comer exceeds the national average.
"Sure!" he said, his excitement zapping across the miles, "I'm here now...after three days in the hospital."
"What!?? I didn't know you were in the hospital! Are you ok? Are you sure you are up for an interview?"
"Well it's not good," he said, "But I would love to have you come for the interview. I'll tell you about it when you get here."

When I arrived, he came to his door at the Assisted Living center by using a walker. Comer had always had precarious balance, but the only assistance he had needed was a cane. The walker was new.
He sat down painfully, his left leg dragging a little.
"Got a blood clot in my hip they think," he said, "Can barely walk. Can't move this leg beneath the knee at all."
"But they released you from the hospital," i said, "They must have felt you were ok?"
"They couldn't do anything more for me. Clots are bad, you know. If they move to the heart, you are a goner."
"But they gave you medicine to dissolve the clot, correct? We will pray for that to happen soon."
I again felt the urgency of recording his story as quickly as possible.

I had been there less than an hour when one of the home workers knocked on his door.
"Dinner in just 15 minutes, Comer," he said, "We have to do it early today so they can hold a seder afterwards for the Jewish residents."
Comer looked apologetically at me.
"I wouldn't bother eating but I always go and help feed Evelyn."
Evelyn, his wife in the Alzheimer's section of the home, ate heartily on our fast food luncheon trips, but Comer told me that she rarely ate on her own in her dining hall. He joined her for every meal, and coaxed her, often feeding her himself.
"I don't like the food," he admitted as he stood up and pulled his walker towards him.

As I said goodbye to him at the elevator, I said, "I will come for more interviews when I return from my niece's wedding."
"I just am so excited to read this book," he said, kissing my cheek.
"Oh, well then I better get writing!"
"Oh, no hurry," he said, as the elevator door opened, "I can wait."

Yes, I prayed silently, Lord, please tarry a little longer.

Really, none of us are any further from crossing over the great divide than Comer. At any time God may choose to take us. We are all just a breath away from heaven or hell. The decision to ask God that we be traveling with Him at that moment is ours, and while He may tarry, He may not. Today, right now, is the moment to believe while we can.

Hebrews 4: 7, 14-16
God again set a certain day, calling it "Today." This he did when a long time later he spoke through David, as in the passage already quoted:
"Today, if you hear his voice,
do not harden your hearts." Therefore, since we have a great high priest who has ascended into heaven, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold firmly to the faith we profess. For we do not have a high priest who is unable to empathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are—yet he did not sin. Let us then approach God's throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need.





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