So Much Straw

For the last few months, I've felt--as Thomas Aquinas is reported to have said three months before his death--that all I write is "so much straw."

Aquinas, a Medieval Catholic scholar best known for his Summa Theologica, was a prolific author who apparently experienced a vision or mystical revelation and suddenly ceased writing. When asked by his secretary for the reason behind this abrupt termination, he said, "All that I have written seems to me like so much straw compared to what I have seen and what has been revealed to me."

I don't know what was revealed to Aquinas, but I think he suddenly understood how little most of life's strivings and daily business matter in God's cosmic scheme. God granted him a glimpse of glory that totally eclipsed his life's work.

I share the feeling that all I've done is so much straw. Yet we are called to work while it is day. We know that right now counts forever. In some way we don't really understand, our paltry work matters to God.

While I share the sentiment of Aquinas and feel that my work is all straw, by God's grace I'll keep baling.

Two Months Later

Two months ago today we moved my sister to a nursing home about a half hour away. Tommorrow we must move her to another nursing home about an hour away.

She keeps trying to exit the building and since it is not a locked facility, this created a lot of problems for the staff. We hope that she will adjust quickly to her new surroundings and will be able to be medicated less. It took about six weeks for her to adjust to the first nursing home, and that was with the remarkable assistance of our foster sister who works there.

We tried hard this week to find something closer to home, especially for the sake of my parents, but nothing was available. This week it has become increasingly clear to us that this was our only option.

We had a family meeting today and everyone present agreed to go ahead with the move. We have peace with that decision.

My sister is a unique nursing home resident because she is only 53 years old. She is Down Syndrome and has early onset of Alzheimer's.

Change is difficult for people with Down Syndrome; change is distressing for people with Alzheimer's. Please join me in praying for a relatively smooth transition and for my sister to have peace.