Getting Affairs in Order
From time to time you hear a phrase that is as ominous as it is odd: “She is getting her affairs in order.” The unspoken word is death...or some other permanent departure...but the focus is on not leaving a mess for others to clean up. Mary Jane’s mother did this in the months before the cancer made her too ill to continue. She went through her attic, tossed some things, gave away others, made sure her daughters had all the keepsakes from childhood that she had so carefully saved. It was more than that, but that’s what I remembered most. She did what she always did, I suppose—caring for her family—though perhaps with a bit more intention and urgency than usual. You can tell a lot about a person by what they do with that time “getting affairs in order.” Come to think of it, maybe it’s not such an odd phrase after all.
I hear folks say these days that they want to “go” quickly, quietly, unexpectedly, preferably in their sleep. I suppose this reflects a desire to be spared the pain associated with a lingering death—and that’s understandable. But the literature suggests that not more than a few generations ago, folks feared a sudden death, preferring to have some time...time to prepare...time to make amends...time to forgive and to be forgiven...time to say, “I love you.” I’ve learned how important this can be for us.
My prayer is not for them alone. I pray also for those who will believe in me through their message, that all of them may be one, Father, just as you are in me and I am in you. May they also be in us so that the world may believe that you have sent me.
Consider the significance of that prayer. The plain meaning is that WE provide the validation—the proof, for lack of a better word—that Jesus is the very Son of God. In our unity, in our love for each other, we are the sign. But consider, too, that Jesus chose to focus his energies here during his holy week prayers. As Christians, how we treat each other says a lot about us, we know this. But Jesus reminds us here that it says even more about him.