St. John the Evangelist - Ancient Faith, Modern Relevance

As a young pastor, one of the most indelible lessons I learned was that I should never assume that there’s “no one in there.”

New to my first congregation, I made a point of contacting everyone on the rolls, including a woman in a nursing home who had severe dementia. Here only communication was verbal with a sound something like “ki – ki – ki.” Out of conviction and duty, I continued to visit her about every 8 weeks or so, reading the Scriptures, praying, and moving on to my next visit. However, one time, I happened to use the Lord’s prayer after reading a Psalm. To my great surprise, she immediately joined in, repeating the words together with me without hesitation or error.

I have no idea what that event actually indicated regarding her mental competency or awareness. But I do know that there was some level of “presence,” since she at least responded to a very familiar and meaningful stimulus – a response that no other stimulus had evoked.

We need to be very careful about conclusions we make – or physicians make, for that matter! See the article from the online version of Britain’s Daily Mail entitled “‘I Screamed, But There Was Nothing To Hear’: Man Trapped In 23-Year ‘Coma’ Reveals Horror Of Being Unable To Tell Doctors He Was Conscious.” See dailymail.co.uk/news/worldnews/article-1230092/Rom-Houben-Patient-trapped-23-year-coma-conscious-along.html#ixzz0XhXUWkKM.1

1. 1. Contributed by the rector.