Aunt Orpha and Sunday Wrapup--January 21, 2018

Yesterday I attended the funeral of my aunt Orpha (Wagler) Miller.  Her husband, my father's brother Harry, died within the past 5-10 years.  Among her father and brothers, three were ordained men locally, and another brother was at one time the editor of Herald der Wahrheit, the German half of the magazine that was a precursor to the Calvary Messenger.  Orpha was the only surviving sibling for the past number of years.

Orpha herself had enrolled at Hesston College while she was a single Amish young woman, although she didn't stay long enough to graduate.  Taking on the role of a typical Amish farm wife eventually, she never stopped reading, studying, and learning.  All of her children pursued higher education and have served in a variety of professions and occupations, including medicine, law, education, business, and social work.  Jean Ann is married to Wesley, the high school principal under whom I have taught for the past number of years.  Throughout life, Orpha taught many Sunday School classes, and was a well-loved teacher.

 Jean Ann told me once that her mother used to say that when she can't go to church anymore, she wants to die.  That says something about how much she loved church.

Orpha suffered a stroke on New Year's Eve. Several milder strokes within the past year or two brought losses, especially loss of memory and mobility.  Another effect of these earlier strokes was to make her a very giggly lady.  I'm sure that it could get old, but for those of us who saw her only occasionally, the giggling seemed like evidence of cheerfulness.

A number of family members spoke of how much the singing added to Orpha's funeral service.  Jane said, "Everyone has many words, but singing words makes them so special."  Three congregational songs were included in the service.  Upon the family's request, Shane organized an ensemble "with lots of Millers."  They sang during the viewing and again at the cemetery.

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Orpha died on the third anniversary of my mother's funeral.  Through Wesley at school, I kept tabs on what was happening with Orpha, and in the process, relived many of my mother's final days.  I was very happy that it was possible for Orpha to die at home, but I realized that my mother's death in the hospital was as good as death can be too, in many ways.  We had hoped to bring her home, and had, in fact, been able to tell her that that's what we planned to do. We began to set up a place for her and we contacted Hospice to make arrangements for their help.  Then her condition began to deteriorate, and we realized that she was in no condition to be moved.  The doctor tactfully told us at one point when we asked a question about the necessary arrangements at home, "I don't think you'll need to make that decision."

In the last two days of her life, many of us gathered in a large hospital room to which Mom had been moved and did hours of spontaneous singing around her bed.  She could not respond, but we trusted that she was somewhat aware of what was going on around her.  She seemed at rest, and we all formed lasting memories of being together in those precious hours.

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Today's sermon by Gary was a continuation of an earlier sermon topic on spiritual gifts, probably including material that he prepared for a series of meetings some time ago in Texas.  Today he focused on the gift of prophecy (truth telling or forth telling, and sometimes foretelling).  He referred to those who have this motivation as "Perceivers." I had never heard that before.  I've studied this gift more than most, for reasons that I'll let you speculate on.

I could identify with the testimony of one person in the audience who puzzles over how some of these things are.  He mentioned particularly that he understands that we can benefit from what blunt prophets offer, but he wonders too if people who communicate that way would  not be more effective if they were less blunt.  I'm not quoting exactly here, but you get the idea. .  .  I've had some of the same thoughts, but my puzzlement is most often over the idea that we should calculate carefully the effectiveness of any course of action before we engage in it.  If the Lord has prompted us, the results are not really our problem.  As I see it, making it our problem veers too quickly into a desire to control, and could potentially result in devious manipulative behavior. 

I laughed to myself later when I realized that the dilemma that I heard articulated this morning is exactly the dilemma every one of us feels when we try to understand why people with other gifts think and do as they do.  In speaking of the dilemmas we encounter, we reveal a lot about which gifts we do not have.  If we did have those gifts, we'd understand why people with those gifts do what they do, and it would even seem to be the best way to do those things.

Yet, Christian graces are needed for all believers, and certainly being able to grow more Christlike will make the exercise of each gift more effective in accomplishing Kingdom purposes.

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The CASP volunteers were in our service this morning--two couples and eight young men who are working for one month on improving housing in Hutchinson.  Another group arrives next month.

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Cindy Sharpe, Gertie Troyer, and Pat Roy had come for Orpha's funeral and were present in church this morning too.  All of them were co-workers of Wesley and Jean Ann when they worked in Washington, D.C.

Cindy and Pat have been public school teachers for many years in D. C.  Hearing tales of teaching in inner-city schools makes our school seem idyllic.  I remember hearing Pat say once of Cindy's school:  "It's a pretty good school.  They have books."   Her school didn't.

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My aunt and uncle, Joe and Mary,  came from Iowa for Orpha's funeral.  I'm not sure of their exact age, but they are close to 90.  Their son Ken and his wife brought them.

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Northwest Kansas is experiencing a blizzard which has necessitated closing Interstate 70.  Once again, our part of Kansas is in the "dry slot" between areas of widespread precipitation.  I think I'm about to develop a complex about this repeating pattern.

The threat of wildfires again this spring is significant, given a heavy dry vegetation load, high winds in the forecast, and very low humidity and dry soil.

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My cousin Leon is a surgeon who has made it a point to study trauma especially.  After his mother's funeral on Saturday, we had a conversation  in which we talked about my father's death.  The day before on my way home from school, I suddenly had a mental picture of my father already being in the presence of Jesus when his vehicle and his cast-off body were involved in a violent traffic accident.  Leon assured me that from what he heard, he believes that's exactly how it was.  If it wasn't that way, he believes that only seconds of consciousness followed the catastrophic aortic rupture that he apparently suffered.

I pass through the intersection where the accident occurred twice a day on school days.  I'm glad for a fresh and good image to think about when I remember Dad at that place.