Nurturing Our Soul

Sharing Sabbath

Mirna Ramos believes that Sabbath should be shared with people. Every Sabbath afternoon Mirna faithfully comes to the hospital to visit patients and brighten their day. She frequently brings with her, what she calls happy Sabbath flowers.

On one particular day Mirna was visiting in our Skilled Nursing Facility where a nurse told her that Mr. Gomez* could really use a visit. The elderly patient had been hospitalized for nearly a year with a chronic illness.

As she entered the room Mr. Gomez was laying on his bed staring at the ceiling. He hardly noticed that someone had entered. Mirna greeted him, pulled a chair close to his bed and took his hand in hers. The caring touch brought the old man out of his silent reverie, and he looked into Mirna's smiling face.

As she explained who she was and why she was there she notice a flower vase on the windowsill filled with dried, wilted roses. To Mr. Gomez' surprise, she walked over and placed one of her Sabbath flowers in the vase saying, "this is for you to brighten up your day." The ill man looked astonishingly at Mirna and the flower — in great contrast to the dry ones.

For a moment Mirna thought she had offended him; then he suddenly began to sob uncontrollably. She quickly walked back to the bed and held him, comforting him as best she could. It was a long while before Mr. Gomez regained his composure.

Finally he said, "No one has ever done something like this for me before. I've been sick for a long time. When I first came to the hospital my friends would visit me from time to time, but after a while they got tired of coming. My son flew in from New Jersey to be with me but he has a family to support and doesn't make much money and had to leave after a few days. The day he left he brought in that bunch of flowers. Even though they've long since dried up I ask the nurses to keep them there because they remind me that someone cares. It's been eight months since a friend has come to see me. I had convinced myself that I didn't care but when you put that flower over there I realized that I really do care."

Mirna, without a pause, walked over to the vase and removed the dried flowers leaving the one she had placed there saying, "This one is to remind you of your son who cares about you." Then adding another, "This is to remind you of me who also cares about you." Then completing the bouquet with the ten remaining flowers she brought, "These are to remind you of God who cares about you most of all!"

The smile on the old mans face could have lit the darkest of rooms. The Lord had touched him though this caring woman and his life would never be the same. Through Mirna the true essence of Sabbath was reveled.

During the next two months not a Sabbath went by that Mirna did not visit Mr. Gomez. The elderly patient looked forward to these visits with much anticipation as his health began to improve. He asked about Mirna's church and became fascinated with the Bible. Through Mirna he formed a close relationship with the Lord of the Sabbath.

When the elderly man was finally discharged, not only had his physical health improved, his spiritual heath was stronger than ever before. If you were to visit Mr. Gomez now, you would see a beautiful bouquet of flowers adorning his mantle each Sabbath. He keeps them there to remind him, and anyone who graces his home, of those that care for him most.

* Name has been changed

By Paul Crampton, Director of Chaplaincy Services