On the receiving end of wonderful care

As a pastor I have more opportunities to visit hospitals than the average member of the community. In the time here in Peoria I’ve been impressed with the three main hospitals. I must say that the architecture in them is befuddling until you figure out their systems. But the care in them is remarkable.

            And when I say care I mean (1) the care of the facilities (clean and well kept), (2) the care of security and confidentiality, and (3) the customer care they extend. Jami and I were on the receiving end of the latter earlier this week and we both feel that she was in good hands the entire time.

            It had been some time since I had waited for someone in surgery. The last time we received timely reports from the volunteers staffing the waiting room. What a marvel now to be updated through a status board, replete with color codes to let you know if your loved (by their 7-digit number) was in pre-op, in the midst of the procedure, or in recovery. Since I had given them my cell number, I received text updates, too.

            All of these advancements are simply the extension of the care our loving Father in heaven provides for us. He did not merely set the cosmos in motion and step away. No, He is intimately involved in our care, day-in and day-out, through His Holy Spirit and His only-begotten Son, Jesus, about whom St. Paul wrote to the Colossians in the first chapter: 16 For by him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things were created through him and for him. 17 And he is before all things, and in him all things hold together.

            God bless your Holy Week with an ever-deepening appreciation of God’s care in time and His providential care for the hereafter in eternity.