This last weekend was spent in helping my sister-in-law pack up and leave the cabin she dearly loves, to return to her residence in a retirement community. She had spent several weeks solo at the cabin for many years, but last year due to health challenges it hadn’t happened. Missing that time at the cabin had been really hard for her, and a time of depression had set in.
It was a long drive, and she thought she could do it alone this summer. When I offered to help her get there, she readily agreed to the offer, so my son and I picked her up in July and made the trip North, planning to do the return trip in September.
It was a time of great blessings, and also of a surrender to the grace of God as she realized the reality of physical limitations due to health and age – she’ll be 90 in October! Blessings included many evening meals shared with extended family visiting at nearby cabins, being back in the woods able to see the lake and savor the deep quiet. Short trips to nearby towns with easy and beautiful country driving were a joy!
It wasn’t all easy though – some of the things she most wanted to do were not do-able; the dock was too wobbly and her legs too unsteady to sit on the bench at the end of the dock. The lovely and peaceful bench on a little lake in the woods surrounded by a bog was unattainable, as the board walk was unstable. The shot received to reduce the pain in her legs began to wear off as the weeks went by, and the constant pain began to return.
All of this reminded me of Paula D’Arcy’s story told in her book SACRED THRESHOLDS, where she relates her time as a therapist with Morrie Schwarz. (TUESDAYS WITH MORRIE). Morrie had ALS, and was slowly losing his ability to do all the things he had loved in this life. Paula walked with him through this journey, as he shared the stories and they re-lived them together, savoring and celebrating the joys, and then letting them go, one by one. This was what my sister-in-law was able to do. She was in the place she loved, remembering the special joys she had experienced there, and then by God’s grace being able to let them go. The reality of not being able to do what she thought she could was acknowledged and accepted, and she said she was blessed with peace as she realized this would be the last time she would spend being at the cabin solo like this. And it was ok, for the frustrations had been replaced by peace.
What a gift the Lord had given to her! As Paula writes in her book about Morrie, she had found the path of surrender to the grace of God. I think of my mom, the last time she came to the cabin. We walked all around the property, visiting the special spots which had been like home for her for over 60 summers. She said goodbye to each one, with gratitude in her heart for all the blessed memories, and ready to let them go and be passed on to the next generations. The words she wrote to the family about the property are a precious legacy –
“Each of us is responsible for our brief moment here on earth. All of us have a love for this small piece of God’s handiwork. May the future find that it has been nurtured and cared for during our lifetimes. All that we have is God’s alone. We are blessed to have each other with whom we can share it.” Please God that we may take these words to heart and live them!
Thank you Lord, for the path of surrender to Your grace! What a gift that has been modeled for our family! My I learn it well as I too am being called to savor the memories and experiences, and then to return them with deep gratitude to You, the source of all that has blessed me in this life…
Spiritual Sun Pennies 