Mercy and Grace
on a Saturday Morning
Chaplain Wes McIntyre
It is 8:10am on a Saturday morning.
I received a page to Kadlec Medical Center. A young woman, still in her
teens, had suddenly fallen unconscious at her home.
When I arrive I meet her mother who is alone,
waiting outside the ER room as her daughter receives CPR. The agony of
those moments was beyond description.
The mother neither welcomed me nor
pushed me away.
Over the next four hours she allowed me to
accompany her through a harrowing morning and early afternoon. After
restarting the young woman's heart at least twice, the CAT scan discovered a massive blood clot in the young women's
lungs. These things hit suddenly, often with little warning, and are almost
always fatal. For some reason this young women was still alive. I offered
words to validate the mother's emotions, provided a shoulder to cry on, heard
her struggle as she searched for what she maybe had not done to protect her
daughter; and I remained present, listening, receiving, seeking to be a
source of comfort and strength. Part of me wants to flee these times. It is
not easy to remain present to agony. When Christ was on the cross most
deserted him and his mother in their agony...most, but not all. John was
there. It is possible to be faithful and remain fully present. John becomes
my model.
I felt the need for strength for myself, for the
mother and mostly for the daughter whose life slipped back and forth
between life and death. The words from ACTS 17:28 came to
mind, "In him we live and move and have our being." I thought, “This
young woman's life, her being is in God. My being and this mother's being is
in God, right now. It is all mercy and grace, just to be alive." And so I
began to pray with each breath. On the inhale, MERCY (receiving). On the
exhale, GRACE (giving it to everyone around me). Mercy …Grace. Receiving
Mercy. Giving Grace. Over and over until I felt it was not air I breathed
in and out but the merciful and gracious Spirit of God. I directed it toward
the mother I stood with; toward the patient who we visited just before she
was wheeled down the hall for tests; to the staff who hurried by with
supplies and anxious looks. Mercy and Grace. Being and Strength. Life and
Being....
I learned that this young woman had dedicated her
life to helping those less fortunate than herself. Mercy and Grace. Mercy
and Grace. I learned that the grandmother was a supporter of the Chaplaincy
since almost its inception some 25 years ago. Mercy and Grace. Mercy and
Grace.
Through a series of events, some might call
coincidences, this woman received a very risky experimental treatment. The
right people happened to walk in, the right equipment was available and ready
to go, and the right diagnosis pursued and treated. Mercy and Grace. And
the young woman ... her being came back into her body...was supported by
caring and determined staff...and she spoke coherently to her mother the
following morning.
The doctor directing this young woman’s care
called it a "miracle." I agree. It was Mercy and Grace, every breath of
it!
