- Not The Only One !
- Post #107
- 05 Dec. 23
- ” The Last Supper”
- Howdy!
- Welcome aboard once again. Most of us no the reference as “The Last Supper”, as being the last meal that Christ had with His disciples before going to the cross. I have been accused from time to time of mixing words or splitting hairs, so I think maybe the difference between dinner and supper, may be a regional thing, or just whatever you were raised with, and to some people it’s just semantics and they are interchangeable. I only bring this up because it’s not the last recorded time of them having a meal together, but it was His last time together with the twelve, so maybe a meal is just a meal.
- Under what kind of circumstances outside of the religious or spiritual realm do we experience ” Last Supper Scenarios? I very recently had a very good friend inform me of his mother entering hospice. He is an only child and his parents were like a second set of parents for me or to me, kind of like bonus parents ☺️☺️. He lost his dad a couple of years ago and his parents had been together since they were young teenagers. His family was different from mine and most notably, because his family was intact and his parents had such a strong bond to one another. Now, I no some cynics, will say of course they did, because they only had one child to chase behind ☺️☺️. There may be an ounce or two of truth to that, but it was so much more to it than that, and it flowed from them being much more of the original Ying and Yang. And as parents, its always a big plus if you have compliant kids, which he absolutely was. ☺️They just complimented one another so well together. There are times when you can walk into a room full of people and you would just never match one person with the person that they are with, but even in a crowded ball room with hundreds of people, you would just know that Margie and Clyde belonged together. There sixty-five year marriage attested to that, but they weren’t bitter and mean spirited as you see with a lot of couples who spend a lifetime together. You know what I’m talking about,, sometimes the till death do us part thing is just a welcomed relief ☺️☺️. This was not the case for Clyde and Margie. When you saw him ,you saw her and he still looked at her with the adoring eyes of a teenage boy. She had a look in her eye as well ,and it was of respect and as she was created just for him and no other man would have ever come close. They were always holding hands and this went on , right up until Clyde drew his last breath upon the earth.
- Hospice is and can be a bitter/sweet pill at times, and I’m sure this is no exception to that rule. In some ways , I want to say that I’m surprised that she lasted two years without him. She didn’t have a lot of extenuating health issues, but You just always knew that her heart didn’t beat the same way after Clyde had past, and the brightness in her eyes was just not the same as it once was. Still she had family, her one and only Son, had married well and they had three children, who had produced six great grandchildren whom she just adored. I had a flood of emotions wash over me with the hospice news, and I thought back to our last meal together. It had been a while, but it was still fresh in my head and heart. The four of us went out to a steak house, the forth person being Steve’s wife Jeanette. It was a little while after we had buried Clyde, and got things set up so that she wouldn’t be living alone in a big house all by herself . We shared memories and laughter, we took a few pictures and talked about our plans to do it again very soon in the near future. The near future, came and went and then there was hospice. She is ninety now, and I can’t even form my lips to just say that she had a good run. On some level, it is about how she ran the race. She was steadfast just like her mate for life had been and always only boasting about what God had done in her life. It is so bitter that she won’t be around anymore for us to partake of her warm smile, or the kindness in everything that she ever said or did. And again I know that You can’t say everything that she ever said and did, but her and her husband were some of the most kind and humble people I have ever known and they always thought of and put others before themselves. What an incredible legacy to pass on and leave behind for your family and those who will interact with them.
- It is also this amazing element of sweetness. I know that she has severely missed her partner in life. I know that she gives thoughts to how they weathered the storms of life together, and did it well as they clung to their faith and on to one another. I know that she looks back with no regrets in life, and feels as if she did everything in life that she was supposed to, no not perfectly, but with the same grace that God had granted to her. I know that she is looking forward to being reunited with her husband. She filled the cycle of life and had been someone’s adoring daughter, a sister to siblings, an aunt to nieces and nephews, but more importantly and absolutely incredible wife and mother. She finished strong as a grandmother and great grandmother. She leaves behind a legacy of love, patients and understanding with just the right amount of fun that she will forever live on in the hearts and minds of family, especially the grandchildren and the great grandchildren and that is what it is all about.
- I’m going to take a U turn of sorts, or perhaps it’s just a detour. Again the theme is ” Last Suppers “. I’ve probably had more than my share of last Suppers with people , but I didn’t recognize it as such at the time. Yeah, I’ve had some that I knew of , and if I’m honest I just couldn’t wait for them to be over. I don’t want to be flipped about it and say that it’s a mixed bag, but for myself it’s come down to obedience. If you are going to wrestle with obedience as I do, then there has to be some prophetic utterance from God to your listening ears. I will be completely genuine here and say that I believe that God is always speaking to us, but it’s just a matter of if we are sitting still enough to listen. I’m like most people and I really don’t enjoy being uncomfortable, but in my relationship with God ,I know being called into comfort is not usually the way God works. I’m not saying that He can’t, it’s just that He wants things to register with us for the most growth potential. I don’t know about you, but for me it’s usually the painful and hurtful thing that makes an impression. I don’t believe that God wants or desires for it to be that way, it’s honestly just probably what He has to do to get my attention, so that’s on me. ! Again honestly, do we , or do I believe God when He speaks?.
- Most mornings, or a lot of mornings, I get up an straight up wrestle with God and His words. If you believe that the things that He calls us to are easy, then you probably have a few screws loose☺️☺️. Come on, who wants to pray for enemies and turn the other cheek… really? There are those unchanging , timeless words of truth in the word of God, then there are those things that He says specifically to you, and about your situations and challenges. You maybe the person who has been long waiting on a spouse. And maybe God has promised you a husband or wife, and it’s taken a little longer than we would like, and then doubt creeps in, and you ask yourself, did I hear Him correctly or not? The longer the period between the promise and the delivery of said promise can be absolutely excruciating. Now ! , for me the waiting on God to move is probably one of the most difficult aspects of my faith. I try not to be, but I’m fairly acquainted with the instant gratification culture. I don’t think that I’m alone here, but the majority of the time if there is a need or want, and it’s within my power to make it happen, then I just pull the trigger on it. I’m not always concerned about the the ramifications of said choices, I just want it quenched, so that I can be off to the next thing ☺️☺️, and that is truth be told.
- As parents, we are usually fully aware of things that are harmful or potentially harmful to our kids, and we try our best to steer them clear of those things in life, whatever they may be, ie smoking, poor choice in friends or even dietary habits. However, as adults we don’t always exercise that same wisdom for ourselves. There are different things that drive the pleasure center of our brains, just like it does for our kids, but we don’t think about it in the same terms. We sometimes pick poor friends, or buy more house and automobile than we should. It’s the same principle, we just view it some how differently for ourselves. We tell ourselves that we know what we are doing and what we are getting ourselves into, and I’m here to tell you that is not always true☺️☺️.
- My brain is very strange and has been known to run at a Nascar’s pace. That being said, let me see if I can bring some of this together, not just for you, but for me as well. God has placed someone in my life who is abrasive as hell. They trip all of my self defense mechanisms and I absolutely know beyond a shadow of a doubt that God has placed this person in my life. I can’t begin to tell you the level at which I want to have a last supper with this person. I could kick them to the curb so hard that they would end up in another zip code☺️☺️. God has said some very specific things to me about this person, and I can tell you unequivocally, at this point I just don’t really care. I know deep down in my soul that I’m not the right person for this assignment. This has been building in my life and it started over a year ago, with a most painful lesson about loving unconditionally. Then , He started with this building bridge campaign of trying to find things that unite us with people opposed to the things that build walls and tend to separate us. Ok, cool right? Then to make sure that I’m getting the point to this lesson ,it graduates to loving people who may look differently, smell differently, have different political views, and completely different views on family, gender and You just name it. It’s not just about saying you love them, but moving forward to prove it with actions. I get it, I always told my kids to judge people based on their actions, because words can be so cheap at times. I sometimes think that God deals with us on a level that is something close to that groundhog day movie. He is not going to stop me from bailing out, but I can almost guarantee that I will see this again somewhere down the road. So….when it gets right down to it, it’s really about whether I believe God or not. We can all say that we believe God, or believe in God, but where is the proof? So, let’s recap, do I believe that God put this person in my life? Do I believe that this is going to produce the result that God desires in my life? Do I believe that I’m the right person for this assignment? That is a lot of Do I s. I want to revert to my feelings and God reminds me of how misleading and unreliable feelings can be, and they usually have a tendency to change, so He is saying to me, not good enough!. However, I think that I have an Ace up my sleeve and that is, that this is more than I can handle. My Ace is quickly trumped by His joker and Harty laughter, of I know!! There are so many things in life that I know that I’m not capable of doing without God, such as praying for enemies and turning the other cheek, but here I’m hoping for an exemption, as in your correct and a get out of jail free card, but it’s more of deal or no deal, and He is saying no deal! My personal favorite, is when He tells me that it’s not about me. I want to scream at the top of my lungs…how is that even possible?☺️☺️ I don’t really want Him to answer that question, because I already know about how small it’s going to make me feel.
- So , I’m at a fork in the road, and it’s definitely not the first time that I’ve been here. Do I believe and follow God, or do I take multiple steps backwards and coward as if I’m standing here alone, instead of in the shadow of the almighty Creator. My conclusion is to just stay tuned. It should absolutely be a no brainer, but if there wasn’t a choice to make, then it wouldn’t be me.
- Till Next Time ✌️ Peace!
- Sandy The Southerner
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