The Mysterious Connection Between Body And Soul

There is a mysterious connection between body and soul, mind and spirit, the sacred and the secular. I saw it again this morning.

Dad had slept pretty uneventfully last night. Sometime before 4:00 am the staff at the palliative care unit came in and changed dad's sheets and pillow case because he had sweat during the night. His breathing had become slightly more labored and they bumped his medications up just a bit.

By 4:30 am dad's breathing had returned to his normal, calm rhythm. Mom, on the other hand, was coughing up a storm and I woke up several times between then and 7:30. Each time I checked on dad and he was breathing normal. Each time I went back to sleep. No drama.

After falling asleep for the last time, I had a dream. It was incredibly vivid. I dreamed that dad had rallied and was walking around; he was out of bed! I grabbed my phone and tried to call Glenn and Marty (my brothers) because we had been told that sometimes patients rally immediately before passing away. But I couldn't get my phone to work! I was getting more and more frustrated! I tried multiple times to call Glenn and Marty but my phone kept glitching on me.

I thought, "What if I get a hold of them too late? What if dad passes away and they don't get to see this incredible sight? Dad is walking around! He's out of his bed!"

The dream was so vividly frustrating that it woke me up . . . it was 8:00 am. I looked over at dad. After a few seconds I realized that he was not breathing. About the same time, mom woke up and we told the staff that we thought dad had stopped breathing. It was all over . . . no drama.

Then it hit me . . . dad WAS walking around, but in heaven!

Was it the sub-conscious working overtime? Was it lack of sleep combined with anxiety, and an anticipation of guilt? Or was it the strange connection between body and soul, mind and spirit, the sacred and the secular? Did my spirit know that dad had already left his body? Or was it God's Spirit urgently trying to help my physical body catch up to a new reality that impacted both the spiritual and the physical?

Whatever it was, God's Spirit has been carrying us along. Looking backwards in time, God has been preparing us for several weeks. We have been mostly unaware until now.

Because of the 'fine-tuning' dad got in the hospital two weeks ago (when they adjusted his blood sugar levels, re-hydrated him, and adjusted his sleep pattern), mom and dad have spent the last two weeks with a renewed quality they have not experienced in a while. Because of an airline engine malfunction and a missed connection in February 2010, I was able to come to Florida this February and spend a good week with my folks. My brothers have had similar experiences. God is good . . . all the time . . . even when we can't see it in the "today".

I give witness again, that tomorrow we will be able to look back on all of our today's and know that God is in control. He loves us . . . even when it feels like he has abandoned us, He is guiding us to a mysterious intersection full of love and grace. The intersection of body and soul, mind and spirit, the sacred and the secular.

I don't understand it, but I have experienced it. God is good . . . all the time.

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