Psalm 23 Verse 6

I was invited to speak at this morning's Utah Valley Interfaith Easter Sunrise Service at the Provo Community Church. Steven Kapp Perry was the Host; with Wayne Parker of Provo City and Topher Melhoff from Orem Community CofChrist also speaking. Brittney Stradling sang, along with the stunning Utah Valley Interfaith Choir, conducted by David Lewis.  

Psalm 23, specifically verse 6: "Surely, goodness and mercy shall follows me all the days of my life; and I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever," was my topic. 

Several years ago I opened a Church magazine, to find this photo on the inside, front page. It spoke to me, and I have saved this page since it was published in April 2015. When I was given this verse to focus on, the first thought that came to my mind was this image. It guided my writing, and honestly, has guided my search for the Good Shepherd. 

                                                        

I so wanted to share this image along with my words. However, all I could find was this was a photo taken by Jim Jeffery in 2010. After quite the internet search, I was left without much more detail. 

David, a shepherd boy and later, the Shepherd King of Israel, in Psalm 23, declared, “The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want.” With the last verse of this Psalm proclaiming, “Surely, goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life; and I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever.”

 “Surely” – in full confidence, David affirms that the Good Shepherd’s goodness is always available.  “Goodness and mercy” – Goodness provides; mercy forgives or pardons. Goodness helps; mercy takes us the rest of the way to healing. And with David fully invested in shepherding – as well as being a sheep, he had full confidence in his shepherd. David knew that Goodness – or God, or Shepherd, or the hands of kindness and mercy, never faileth.

 For most of us, some of our days will be filled with grief, uncertainty, loss; yet God’s goodness will chase after us – a goodness that never faileth. 

 There is so much goodness in the world – so many many good kind people who work silently, without need for glory or even a thank you, who, regardless of pay or business; they are the good shepherds chasing after each of us.

 Christian author, Max Lucado, wrote, ““Goodness and mercy. Not goodness alone, for we are sinners in need of mercy. Not mercy alone, for we are fragile, in need of goodness. We need them both.”

 As a Palliative Care Chaplain, working at Utah Valley Hospital, I have seen Goodness, or Godness, repeatedly these past two years. Irish poet and philosopher, John O’Donohue, in his blessing, “For a Nurse,” wrote: "In this fragile frontier-place, your kindness becomes the light that consoles the broken-hearted..." I would like to share a few bits of light, these kindnesses, this Good Shepherd Goodness:

          An ICU CoVid physician worked tirelessly to save a man, a father of 4, a stalwart in his community. His children, angry that he would not wake up, criticized the doctor – publicly, and complained about her to her colleagues. And yet, every single day she walked into his room, paused at his bedside, gently took his vitals, reviewed his notes, and more than once, with tears in her eyes, walked out of his room, gently shaking her head. And then she moved on to the next room, with the same love and respect.

           Another ICU CoVid team – caring for a husband and wife, both with CoVid; and their daughters watching, and waiting. Their father died, and within weeks, so did their mother, and a husband, and a father-in-law. After day in and day out care, aware of failing health, caregivers gently washed worn bodies, hugged exhausted daughters, and at each death, grieved.

           A young father of 3, hospitalized for more than 2 months, intubated, in a medically induced coma, is slowly awaken and then gently extubated and weaned off oxygen. And caregivers, with mile-wide smiles, applauded as this man, still with a long road ahead, was wheeled out of the hospital into the waiting arms of his wife and children.  

 Doing things from Goodness, not for Goodness.

           A respiratory therapist, who cares for patients intubated and trach’d, many who are not alert, all unable to speak, chats with them as if they’re neighbors, speaks to them of everyday things, acknowledging lives outside of the hospital.

           An aid bathing a patient in a coma, chats away in Spanish to this young woman from Mexico, who did not speak English.

           A caregiver sang hymns with an elderly woman, sick with CoVid and clouded with dementia.

           A chaplain, who asks, “What brings you joy?” to a man who longed for one more normal day. “Time with family,” was his reply. And that chaplain gently lead family in, one by one, to say good-bye to man who was the rock in their lives.

 The Shepherd is with His sheep in times of sunshine and rain, he shares his goodness ALL the days of our lives.

           An infectious disease nurse shared that his friends and fellow caregivers were his Goodness. Their simple acts – bottles of water, cups of coffee, short walks, were the encouragement he needed to make it through dark days when the line of patients needing treatment never shortened.

           A daughter of an elderly man who had recently passed away distributed bright orange roses to the hospital staff on his floor, thanking them for being a bit of sunshine in his life.

           “I was saved by the beauty of the world,” said Poet, Mary Oliver.  

          Two caregivers and a hospital gift shop manager arranged an anniversary gift for a husband to give his wife, whose days were numbered, paid for by the volunteers in the gift shop.

           A provider, after hearing that a patient she had served over his multiple hospitalizations had passed, left the hospital, looking for a private place to grieve. And a physician, seeing this, wrapped his arms around her.

 Believers – The Shepherd’s crook is there for us to grab onto, and we are rescued. 

        A former patient shared,  “Out of a dozen caregivers, they were all kind, patient, kept me alive, and though I don’t remember much, I always felt safe, and my family watched and trusted and learned to love my caregivers as they cared for me.”

           A flower, left anonymously at the front door of this chaplain’s home, saying, “Well done.”

           A young friend, after being on and off bed-rest for nearly two years, honored her primary caregiver, “My mom! She has been the biggest blessing in my life. She bought me food I could eat, drove me to doctor’s appts, held my hand while blood was drawn, carried me down the stairs when I was too weak to walk, and laid down next to me and held me while I cried, letting me know she was by my side. She has been my goodness, my love, my shepherd.”      

          We are the sheep, and we are the tender shepherds. And today, we can take those lessons learned from these experiences and do our best to be the Shepherds He would want us to be. We can be His rod and His staff.

          We all have days of dark, days of despair, days of sorrow and weariness and loneliness and loss. As I have listened to, and first-hand observed, the generosity of others, I am confident that the Good Shepherd’s presence in our lives is made manifest by kind gestures, tender actions, calm presence. If Goodness never faileth, then we, as imperfect and complicated people, are that good. We should be kind; and practice being kinder. Without motivation. Surely, goodness and mercy WILL follow us, as we are His hands, eyes, voice. There is hope, Goodness never faileth, all the days of our lives; He is our Sunrise.

 Amen.

After I finished the choir sang: 

                                                    Song begins at 2:00.