Dignity

I read her email and my heart hurt.
The mother of my dear friend is in the hospital.
I knew that she had been having health issues.
The email was difficult to read.

This woman is 93 years old.
She has been in my home.
She has come to the Bible study I teach when she was here visiting her daughter.
She was always feisty, and opinionated, and extremely independent.

She would take the bus from the city to visit her daughter and her family.
She has been a faithful member of her church for many years.
She sang in the church choir.
She was tiny; I towered over her, yet I realized that despite her size, she was not one to cross.

The email informing us that this woman was in the hospital made me sad.
I had full intention of calling her in her home.
Days passed, life got in the way and the call never happened.
Now, in the hospital, I cannot call her so my love has to go through her daughter.

Four of us sat around the table as we listened.
We heard the story of the failing health of the mother of our friend.
We heard how she did not want to eat and then gradually could not eat.
The world of this active, independent woman got very small as her health turned.

She was admitted to the hospital.
She will probably have to go to rehab for a while, since walking is difficult.
It was the story of her anticipated transport that hurt my heart.
Three of us sat around the table and listened as our friend shared her hurting heart.

Do you need to get Mommy’s clothes? My friend asked one of her brothers.
She was already thinking ahead to when they would move their mother from the hospital.
No, we don’t need to do that, he answered.
He learned that dressing the patient for transport was discouraged.

We all listened to our friend with our mouths open.
They will put her on a gurney and wheel her out of the hospital into the ambulance, he said.
With just a hospital gown and blankets? My friend asked her brother.
She choked on those words as she thought of her mother being transported that way.

What about her dignity? I asked my friend.
She pointed towards me in agreement.
That is exactly what I thought, she said as her voice quivered a bit.
Mommy needs to be transported wearing her own clothes, she said with weariness in her voice.

I thought of my friend, who is a bit older than me, calling her mother, Mommy.
What else would she call her?
She will always be her Mommy’s little girl.
This woman will always be her Mommy.

Another friend went through a similar situation with her father.
He needed to be transported to rehab after a broken hip.
My friend made sure her father was wearing his own clothes from the waist up.
She insisted on his dignity.

My friend, whose mother is in the hospital, spoke.
I am so tired of this fallen world, she said.
Sin has taken its toll, she continued.
This is not the way it is supposed to be, I said.

It takes courage to get old, another friend stated.
Aging and death are inevitable for each of us.
However, we must advocate for our loved ones.
We must make sure as this earthly tent tires and wears out, it is shown dignity.

We are image bearers of our Creator God.
For that reason alone, dignity is required.
William Lane, who is described as a New Testament scholar with a pastor’s heart, said it best.
We carry around a concealed dignity.

Our concealed dignity is remarkably the image of God.
In these earthly tents, we carry around the image of God for all to see.
Dignity requires respect.
Dignity requires the right clothing.

I delight greatly in the Lord; my soul rejoices in my God. For he has clothed me with garments of salvation and arrayed me in a robe of righteousness. (Isaiah 61:10)

We are clothed in Christ’s righteousness when we come to Him in faith.
Our sinful, filthy garments are removed.
Jesus takes our filthy clothes on Himself.
Jesus dresses us in His robes of righteousness, which we do not deserve.

We are image bearers of the God who created us.
We carry around a concealed dignity.
The dignity that rightfully belongs to Him, has been given to us who believe.
We are clean.

I do not know when the mother of my friend will be transported to a rehab facility.
I do know that wherever she goes she carries around a concealed dignity.
She projects the image of God no matter how frail she appears in her earthly tent.
Sin has taken its toll; however, sin does not have the final word.

That Word has been spoken.
That Word is Jesus.
Jesus exchanged His clean clothes for our dirty ones.
Because of our Lord Jesus, we have dignity.

And we will be transported to the arms of our Heavenly Father in our right clothes.