Is there a Deborah in your house?

Recently I was a guest in a convent which is home for some of my host Congregation’s retired Sisters.  The residence also includes services for their frail members in an unlicensed setting.

Soon after my arrival I became aware that one of the Sisters was on hospice care after a change in her conditions just a few days earlier.  In the early evening that Sister died.  With her was the woman who has served the Sisters as the RN for several years and other staff persons. Two other staff persons returned to the convent when they received news of Sister’s death.  I saw them come in, tearful but wanting to be present at such a sacred moment. As word spread, Sisters also made their way to keep vigil with the body.

The following morning, Deborah, a staff person who works with Life Enrichment activities, and who also writes notes of interest on a chalkboard outside the dining room each morning, had written the following:

Life ... so fragile

Loss ... so soon

Hearts ... so broken

The note was so reflective of the event the Sisters and staff had just experienced.  Posting it for each Sister and each staff person to see acknowledged the shock, the loss, the grief. It acknowledged the presence of community and the subsequent pain within the entire community – Sisters and staff. The note acknowledged and celebrated community.

Additionally, this notice, so poignant, honored the Sister, her physical presence having just been lost to the community. 

There were tears shed by many who read these words. Good tears.  Tears that are part of the mourning journey, a journey we must go through, not avoid.  Tears of love for the one just lost, and so many others that we lost in a lifetime, and for those who are still in our circle.  Tears of gratitude that someone wrote words that express what it is our heart and soul, but perhaps cannot articulate with such grace.

I hope there is a Deborah in every Sisters’ convent, or that that spirit is cultivated in every convent.