I heard a Christian comedian the other day talking about some of the places he has performed recently — churches, senior citizen centers, even a nursing home.
“The nursing home had a great crowd,” he said. “By the time I was done, there wasn’t a dry seat in the house.”
I’m like that comedian in that I love the nursing home crowd. It’s so much fun hearing those residents tell stories about growing up in bygone years. I love hearing about life on the farm when milk came directly from the cow, when bacon came from the smokehouse, and when butter came from the churn.
Most of all, I am a huge fan of the dedicated workers who lovingly care for nursing home residents who can no longer care for themselves. These workers deserve to be the highest paid in America. They clean up unimaginable messes every day. They delicately brush hair and clip nails. They give baths. They offer soft words and warm smiles. They gently hold hands and stroke brows of people as they leave this side of eternity. Tears stream down their cheeks as they, with broken hearts, pull up the sheet and wait for the undertaker.
Every day, they practice what the Bible calls pure and unfiled religion, which is described in James 1:27 as caring for orphans and widows in their affliction. Essentially, that Bible verse calls for people to minister to the most vulnerable among us, and our nursing home workers do just that.
It takes a special kind of person to work in nursing homes. Not just anyone can handle the job. These people are honest to goodness heroes. The best of the best. And so are the people they take care of.
That’s why I’m glad the comedian took his show to a nursing home, making those dear residents forget their aches and pains for a while and giving the hardworking heroes something to smile about, too, even though it meant cleaning all those seats.
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Reach Roger Alford at 502-514-6857 or rogeralford1@gmail.com.
