Wring Whatever Good Can Be Wrung From the Hard Thing

In my work as a hospice nurse, I am honored to care for all kinds of people. I serve the young and the old, the ugly and the pretty, the rich and the poor. I take care of folks who have no faith, some faith, and occasionally, unshakable faith.

Such was the case tonight. My patient was a woman in her sixties who has taught adult Sunday school for many years. Her husband told me that on the first Sunday after she received her diagnosis, she shared the news of her extremely poor prognosis with her class. Tonight, he shared his wife's notes from that lesson with me.

Below is a short excerpt. It is how she ended that day's lesson, which turned out to be the last one she would stand up and give. Her words and the illustration she chose moved me deeply.


I’m telling you again the story I’ve told you before, because it speaks to me more vividly than anything else about this truth. The story came from John Claypool, who died last week of multiple myeloma. Claypool said there was a beautiful plum tree that stood for years in his grandfather’s yard – the prize of the farm and the pride of the family. One day a tornado swept across the southern Kentucky community where the Claypool family lived, twisting that plum tree from its roots and leaving it lifeless on the ground. After the storm passed, the neighbors ventured out to survey the damage, gathering in Claypool’s yard. They stood in a silent circle, gazing down at that one-beautiful plum tree, now ruined beyond repair. Finally one of the men asked Claypool’s grandfather, “What are you going to do with that tree?” And after a long pause, the old man replied, “I’m going to pick the fruit and burn the rest.”

I’m going to pick the fruit and burn the rest. I’m going to wring the good from this hard thing and then get on with the rest of my life.
Pick the fruit – take from the hard experience whatever God teaches you, new sensitivities to others he’ll open to you. Pick the fruit – pay attention to the new insights you’ll gain. Pick the fruit – the crop will be new experience with the sustaining presence of God.
Pick the fruit, burn the rest, and walk on with hope into whatever is left of life with the God who raised Jesus Christ from the grave. This is our hope! Amen.

My patient will go to glory soon. Perhaps before the end of this night.

But her lesson -- it will live on in my heart for a very long time.