Mercy and Gratitude

 

Sitting in a wheelchair awaiting an MRI, I watched a young orderly from another continent. He waited for a second orderly to come to help him wheel the old lady on the gurney back to her hospital room. With compassion and kindness, his gloved hands clasped the agitated woman’s hand as she shifted and protested. His quiet voice reassured her as she, in some stage of dementia I imagine, expressed her anxiety and fear. The other orderly appeared and they went out, the orderly continuing to hold the old woman’s hand and comfort her.

Earlier, in my peaceful hospital room, I had chatted with a friendly nurse named Blessing. She was a blessing indeed. The previous night, one of the consultants, whose shift should have ended at 5pm, came to see me at 7 pm, still doing his rounds, looking exhausted. He, too, came from Africa.

When I was mercifully given the all-clear, it was a young doctor from the Indian subcontinent who told me. Headaches as a result of the vaccine. No underlying causes. A real relief, and I’ve woken with a clear head today, after a week of pain.

I have come home feeling blessed, relieved, grateful and humbled. The heroes of the NHS, many from continents in desperate need of their skills, ministered to me here in northeast Scotland. May my prayers have power to minister to them today, and to all those in continents where there is no NHS, no vaccine, no oxygen. Lord, have mercy.

I am praising the Lord with an awesome chorus by Brandon Lake, which I have just heard for the first time yesterday. Gratitude. Mhairi and I have been doing this month-long exercise in gratitude. We’re crescendo-ing to an amazing finish I hadn’t anticipated. I have so much to be thankful for. Blessings, pressed down and overflowing. Thank you, God. And thank you, all who prayed for me. Our God is a powerful God, who loves justice and mercy. May they flow through us all today.