It's been recently renamed a 'Care Home'. The metal sign on posts says so, at least, but the original brick wall to the car park incorporates a large stone engraved with 'Nursing Home', which would be rather difficult to change, so there is some dissonance. What's the difference? I prefer 'Nursing Home', as I'm quite cynical about institutional "care". But anyway...
Over the last couple of months I've managed to go to visit some of the residents in between our Sunday services. It's amazing how difficult this is - in a general sense it must be difficult because I've so rarely managed to do that. Do I not care? Am I not organised enough? Am I too attached to the comfort of not getting on my bike? I was partly inspired by coming across Making the Most of the Rest of Your Life by John Chapman, a book designed for elderly people, to confront them with the claims of Christ. It's not bad at all, though possibly a bit wordy for the lady who I'm reading it with in the home. Certainly Chapman had in mind the mentally alert elderly, and this home, being more of a last stop sort of place, does not have so many residents who are as alert as they were.
This lady is great, though - I love chatting to her, tiring though it is. Although she's generally confused and doesn't always seem to take in what is said, and returns to the same old themes that don't really make much sense, we get on really well! And she listens and understands what Chapman (filtered through me!) says about the gospel to know that she doesn't believe it for herself, and she's not slow in saying so. So, my heart really goes out to her, but what a ray of hope and privilege to be there in her moments of lucidity and for those moments to be moments of talking about Christ!
What prompted this one today? One, I'm visiting the home again this afternoon: two, I suddenly realised that this blog belongs to an evangelical and it didn't have a category for 'evangelism'.
