rob's reflections

Awhile back I received a message from a doctor asking me to visit a patient named John (not his real name; to be honest, I don’t remember his name). She said, “He is close to dying; he gets really lonely. His wife passed a few weeks ago. He can’t really communicate, but I know that he really loves John Denver songs.”

I went into his room and saw him laying on the bed. Not far from him was a young man who was a sitter- it was his job to make sure that the patient stayed in his bed and didn’t pull out his IV tubes. 

I said, “hi John, I’m Rob and I’m the chaplain.” No response. The sitter said, “you’ll have to speak up, he’s hard of hearing.” So I said, very loudly, “HI JOHN, I’M ROB, THE CHAPLAIN.” No response. He just stared at the ceiling. 

So I said, “I HEAR THAT YOU LIKE JOHN DENVER SONGS. WOULD YOU LIKE TO LISTEN TO JOHN DENVER SONGS?” No response. He just stared at the ceiling. 

I don’t know that many John Denver songs, but I just pulled up his top hits on my phone and played them as loud as they would go.”

We started listening to “Take me Home Country Roads,” and the sitter was like, “hey! I know this song!” It has resurged in popularity recently. Still no response from the patient.

Then we started listening to “Leaving on a jet plane.” The lyrics started out, “All my bags are packed, I’m ready to go
I’m standing here outside your door
I hate to wake you up to say goodbye
But the dawn is breaking, it’s early morn
The taxi’s waiting, he’s blowin’ his horn
Already I’m so lonesome I could cry…”

I started thinking about this man, and his life, and his wife, and the lyrics really had me choked up- then I looked over at John- he was still looking up at the ceiling, but something had changed. His face looked like he was looking for something, he was remembering something, or someone, maybe his wife, and he became emotional too. This song was bringing back memories, and they were flooding his heart with all kinds of feelings.

The chorus began, “So kiss me and smile for me
Tell me that you’ll wait for me
Hold me like you’ll never let me go
‘Cause I’m leaving on a jet plane
Don’t know when I’ll be back again
Oh babe, I hate to go.”

I just thought of this man at the end of his life, and these lyrics, and the emotions that he was feeling; I thought about he was ready to embark on a journey into eternity. I put myself in his shoes and imagined what it would be like if I were at the end of my life and if had lost my wife and my eyes welled up with tears. 

Another verse went, “Now the time has come to leave you, 
One more time, just let me kiss you
Then close your eyes and I’ll be on my way
Dream about the days to come
When I won’t have to leave alone
About the times I won’t have to say…”

We listened to several more songs, but none of them had the impact that the jet plane song did. Aa that is to say that it was really meaningful; for him and for me. The lyrics, the story, the song, the emotions, the memories, they all came together in this moment, and I hope that I never forget it. 

God is love.
-rev-rob