Today March 16 2010

Today I would like to share something that am currently experiencing, and also something that I shared to a good pastor friend of mine.
Currently at forty something, I am a shut-in, due to a lower back issue called, Arachnoiditis. (for more information on this, go to webmd.com)
This arachnoiditis has caused me to be completely disabled.

As I lay on my couch with my dog, Foster. I am in consent pain 24/7, the pain is never ending. I thought of this...
My world...
What I see and experience, everyday never really changes. My world is always still, quite and sometimes boring. My dog, ( Foster) does very little, sleeps a lot and cares for me. You see when I get up, he walks with me and stands by me. When I sleep he will awake me every so often to make sure I am ok. He is a Great dog.
Getting back to my thought...
As I look out my window, I see a world that I once was involved in. It is changing everyday and moving forward at a rapid speed. I once had “friends” in that world. I would hang out with them, sharing some conversation over some great coffee. We would go places, just being good friends. I would see them at church. I would pray for them, they would pray for me. Just friends hanging out in a ever changing world.
Now that I am not able to be out in this fast moving world, where have my friends gone? In the beginning stages of my back issues, They would come by for a visit, but as the days turned into weeks and the weeks turned months,those visits soon faded away. Now loneliness seems to be my visitor. Oh I still have a couple of loyal friends, that visit me.
This thought really made me wonder about other shut-ins, how are they coping with thier now dark, empty, and unchanging world?

How is the "church" dealing with members that are currently shut-in?
How would Jesus handle this?
I think I found something in the Bible that just might help us...
Checkout Matthew 25: 35-40 (for those without a Bible, go to... biblegateway.com)
In this passage it talks about those in need, those who are hungry, thristy, a stranger, naked, sick, and in prison.
Yes each one of those can be connected to a shut-in.
Hungry...shut-ins have this hunger for touch from the outside. A visitor coming over just to offer a hug, hand shake. All humans desire that physical touch from others.
Thirsty...Who isn't thirsty for something. For us shut-ins we would love it if someone came by for a visit and treated us with our favorite drink.
A Stranger... Well to most people in the church today, shut-in's are a stranger. This would mean for some people, that they have to get out of their comfort zone. Stepping out in faith. Go out and be Christlike...
To some shut-in's everyone is a stranger, but we never turn away a visitor. And to a shut-in like, I like meeting people... A stranger is really a friend, that I have not meet yet.
Naked... In this case, let us look at the word naked differently,
Shut-ins become naked in the since of our spirituality can be striped away over time, our minds can get striped of the fast pace of this world, and slows our minds way down, some minds even shuts down all together.
Sick... well this speaks for it self. However we could also add not only the physical part, but also the mental sickness.
Prison... Most shut-ins would say that they feel imprisoned. I must say, that I feel this way, even though I am still in my own house.
So what I am trying to share with all those who may read this is... Go visit a shut-in today, and in doing so, you just won't make a shut-in happy, but Christ will be pleased with you.