Three weeks after being diagnosed with ovarian cancer, Mom needed a second surgery. The news from the doctor was distressing: “Tumors are weeping everywhere throughout your abdominal cavity.” The tumors weren’t the only ones weeping. We sat together in oppressive silence after the doctor left. Finally, Mom suggested we go for a walk.
I supported my mother’s body so that she could walk down the hospital corridor. “Let’s sing,” Mom insisted. “What do you want to sing, Mama?” I inquired. “Count your blessings” was her buoyant reply. We must have been quite a sight, walking arm in arm, and singing at the top of our lungs.
Mom died to the Lord two weeks later, but only after rejoicing in the God whose blessings transcend our death. It is only in the light of Easter’s triumph that a fragile, dying humanity dares to sing with gusto that every moment of this life is undergirded with the blessings of our God.
This message is adapted from a stewardship devotion written by Mary Ann Moller-Gunderson for Women of the ELCA in 2003.
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