The weather is finally changing here in Northern California. It’s November and the long, hot days of summer have given way to cold nights and mornings, and the rains have arrived! I’ve bundled myself up in layers– turtleneck, sweater and scarf, while my suitcase is packed with breathable lightweight clothes, sandals for the heat and DEET to ward off malaria-carrying mosquitos of Kenya. It’s an odd juxtaposition. Sort of like the feast day that the Church celebrates on November 1–All Saints’ Day. It is a day of joy mingled with sorrow. Joy for those who have gone before us and now stand with all the other saints before Christ. Sorrow for those of us who miss them.
In her Southern Gothic sort of way, Flannery O’Connor captures the oddity of this feast day. A devout Catholic, O’Connor had the gift of creating grotesque and “out there” characters who, nonetheless, are as redeemable as the rest of us. In Revelation, one such character, Ruby Turpin, prides herself as someone who has done everything right and deserves to be first in everything. In the end, her self-deception is revealed as she has a vision of the line of saints on their way to heaven. In her mind, she and “her kind” would be first in line–her good deeds and righteous way of living gives her that. However, what she sees are the misfits of the world–those who she looked down on during her life–being first in line while “her kind” are trailing far behind.*
“Thus, the last will be first, and the first will be last.”-Matthew 20:16
My numerous trips to Kenya over these past sixteen years have certainly helped me see my own pride and self-righteousness. Confronted with the immense suffering due to poverty and illness, my teachers became those who were considered “less than”. In the world’s eyes, they had nothing to offer me, but in the eyes of Christ, they gave me everything. They gifted me with their presence and allowed me to see their joy and their sorrow.
Deaconess Pamela, on the left, January 2022. I’ve known her since 2006. She has been one of my mentors during my Kenya journeys.
Deaconess Pamela, October 2022, days before she died. She is now with the saints in heaven. I hope to attend her funeral while I’m in Kenya.
As I prepare to depart for Kenya this week, I pray that I might be ever mindful of the ultimate gift of mercy–Christ Himself. I pray that whatever I am called to do, I do with mercy and compassion. That whatever words I speak are ones of love, especially as I care for those suffering in body and soul.
The focus of this trip will be palliative care–comfort care for those with chronic or terminal illnesses. I will spend part of my time teaching palliative care alongside a Kenyan team. Together, we will train nurses, community health offices, deaconesses and a few volunteers.
This will open the door to home based palliative and hospice care in the community surrounding our up and coming palliative care and hospice center, Rehema Open Door.
You can learn more about this project of mercy by going to our website Always Mercy
* Revelation by Flannery O’Connor provides a great synopsis of Revelation.
