Poem - Wisdom From an Expert on Aging
Wisdom From an
Expert on Aging
Chaplain O. Kris
Widmer
Idea: March 16, 2018 First Version Made Public: March
16, 2018
We’ve sustained damage, but we’re still able to maneuver.”
Original Star Trek: Officer Spock to Captain Kirk.
I would like to
quote a valued authority on aging.
I met her today
doing Hospice Spiritual Care.
Her wisdom was
spoken in the language of the new realm
to which she is
about to enter.
I did my best
to decipher her wisdom,
But I know I
only caught a word now and then.
Google
translate was not helpful.
I know full
well that only the Divine Ones -
The God that
doesn’t dwell with flesh, but who was made flesh -
know for sure
what she said,
and They are
not telling or decrypting.
“Mum toom bof
drm ingk.
ging turr ip ir
where you live?
aboing huboo
sfuor liba oot
selig vefre (heavy
sigh) God help us.
our house. id. mle
stap esnarti
wonderful! ebon
farn husband.”
(She is
Catholic, with a valued rosary on her pillow.)
A member of the
visiting team asks “Would you like us to say a prayer with you?”
(Nodding,
looking grateful.)
“Neppist hobnu
nice k odach!”
She joins us in
making the sign of the cross.
Befuddled brain
cells give way, as other neurons zap down familiar dendrites.
“In the name of
the Father, the Son and the Holy Ghost.
Our Father
which art in heaven
(Her lips accurately form every word
as she whispers a prayer in the
morning.)
Hallowed be Thy
name.
Thy kingdom
come.
Thy will be
done on earth as it is in heaven.
Give us this
day our daily bread.
And forgive us
our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us.
And lead us not
into temptation, but deliver us from evil.
For Thine is
the kingdom, and the power and the glory forever.
Amen.
I depart, only
able to petition heaven in my ordinary American English.
“Oh Divine
Ones,
May all these
aged saints
who achieve fluency in this language of lingering
enjoy their new
articulate and erudite selves
in the realms
beyond.”
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