Word in Season

I try to be mindful of the things I say. Once in a while I say something too quickly without thinking, as was the case recently when a group of us were discussing staff and one of my co-workers mentioned someones name. Not being familiar with the person (they don't work in my building) I hastily asked, "Is that the weird one?" which was met with a few snickers but also a knowing look from our site director, like, "JEN--not the nicest way to describe someone".  The irony though was that one of my other co-workers responded with, "No! That's ____", knowing exactly who I was speaking about.

Anyway...I came across a passage of scripture this week that has been mulling around in my head. 

Isaiah 50:4-"The Sovereign Lord has given me an instructed tongue, to know the word that sustains the weary. He wakens me morning by morning, wakens my ear to listen like one being taught (a disciple)". The KJV says, "So I know how to speak a word in season to him who is weary". 

"Speak" here in the Hebrew actually means "in season", or "at the right time" with the root word being "to consult". I kept chewing on this all week in conjunction with the remaining feelings I have over a documentary I watched last week.

It was on HBO and was called "Terminal Prison", I think.  It was about a man named Private Jack, a WWII veteran, that killed his son's drug dealer and was serving a life sentence in an Iowa prison. Private Jack was in his 80's and was close to death. Years before, this prison in Iowa had created hospice rooms on it's medical unit so that prisoners could die both in comfort and dignity.  The documentary followed Private Jack's last days.  What struck me most was the genuine care, respect, and dignity the fellow "lifers" and staff working the unit gave Private Jack--bathing him, massaging him, praying over him, talking with him. It was a beautiful thing. He was no longer a murderer, a felon, a convict--he was a human being, a father, a soldier. The practice of the prison when someone dies is to fingerprint them.  The nurse in charge of the unit said that one of the directives she gives before a body is removed from the unit is that every last bit of ink is removed from their finger tips. "They were printed when they came in...but they won't be printed on their way out", she said (or something like that which brought tears to my eyes).

Aptly spoken words can sustain the weary.  In the various seasons of our lives--birth, death, tragedy, divorce, job loss or gain, etc., sometimes we need to just sit there like Job's pals did for 7 days and say nothing. But at other times, I believe God can give us the right words at the right time for the benefit of others. Father Steve often does this for me. I only hope that I have done and do this for others.

As I pondered the verse, I wrote in my spiritual journal: "Made me think of my interactions with people, my (hope? dream? desire?) to do more ministry with kids/prisoners/etc. Being able to say the right thing at the right time to help others but not just in "work mode"--always. The latter part of this ("He awakens me...") made me think of my spirit as I come to this chair each morning, hoping and wanting to learn, to discover, to grow, for the most part. I hope I can continue that".

After the documentary, I pictured myself on a prison ward, speaking words in season to prisoners. I saw myself seated at the side of people dying of AIDS ho had no one to comfort them. I found myself longing to be the one to have more of an instructed tongue, to KNOW the word to sustain the weary.

Father Steve and I were chatting this week and I shared these thoughts with him. He got a little twinkle in his eye and said, "Williams, you should be a pastoral minister". I rolled my eyes and confided that I had looked online for chaplaincy programs just to see what was required (about 2 years of school!)  But still, the idea was planted and still remains.  

Who knows where this all will lead...I struggled to write the words "hope/dream/desire" in my journal (which is why they are in parenthesis) because I know enough to know that if the Lord plants a vision/desire in your heart, it's there for a reason. For now, my aim is to pray for that "instructed tongue" so that I don't speak out of turn...so that my words to anyone result in sustaining hope.