A Day in White and Black

A Morning in WHITE begins at 7am as I drive to my first CNA (Certified Nurse Assistant) clinical in an urban nursing home.  Donning oversized, over bleached white scrubs and a braid I enter the government supported nursing home.  Within the first hour I hear Korean, Spanish, Arabic, Filipino, and some island language I can't identify- and these not only from the residents but from my fellow classmates.  I learn to make a bed, give a shower, play Bingo, and remind an Alzheimer's resident to take a bite of food after forgetting that he just took one.  It is not glorious work.  The curse of death stares me in the face as I see the cruelty of aging on the mind and the body.  The knowledge that creation is groaning for Christ's return under the evil enemy of death is painfully present in all its smells, aches, shouts, and even apathy from some who work around these aging weak ones.  So, when Stuart says in Sunday School today, "Christ died not to just save our souls but to save our bodies as well, " I get it.  His Spirit groans with us waiting for our full redemption.  In a way we are not so different from these weak ones whose bodies and minds are bearing the painful realities of living as dying people in a dying world.  But in these things there is hope.  We know we will be raised because Christ has been raised.  The ancient Christians said that we should NOT say "look what this world has come to!" but rather we should proclaim "Look Who has come to this world!." 

   After a quick shower and a thorough scrub I trade my running shoes for heels and my white scrubs for a little black dress to begin an Evening in BLACK with my honey!  Jason and I are the guests of some of our neighbors at a fundraising gala at the Field Museum downtown.  What does a gala look like?  Lots of ties and black dresses.  A chicken dinner.  Some money raised for an organization that provides homes for homeless mothers and their children. Wine.  More wine. An auction.  Meeting new people. Having a great time!  And I can't help but wonder at the complexity of this world, of one twenty four hour day, of the twists and turns of life,  and of injustice and grace.  But I do know that Christ's work has been accomplished.  That, in Him, we pilgrims will travel from the valley of the shadow of death to His feast table where we will stand in our glorious new bodies free from sin and death...and party.