Here's just a "slice of life" -- what ministry is about. I happened to walk into a family conference in a hospital ward. The family "patriarch" was terminally ill -- but he had briefly rallied, and was standing on wobbly legs. He was extremely distressed, and struggling to get dressed to go home (both doctor and family felt he should not). He said: "Why doesn’t somebody help me?" I saw the old man struggling, and people looking at him like a specimen. The doctor asked the family to clear out -- just he and I should stay. It didn’t help -- the old man was still very agitated. I said to the doctor -- a caring man -- "You get along doctor. I’ll talk to him." The old man slumped exhausted into a chair, and asked me to lift his legs. I knelt down at his side and held his hand, and we talked a lot, and he settled down -- but still no resolution to the situation. After an hour, I had to go. I said to him: "Think of the family. Think of their good." OBSERVATION: I was with the old man, but 21st Century society is not like that.
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