Hospital Rooms. Sometimes, they are exactly where you need
to be, sitting beside someone you love. And hospital rooms today are much more
guest-friendly than in the past. There’s wireless internet so that I am
connected, and cable television to play the old shows that I think my father
would like. (No Game Show Network, though.) There are free newspapers at the
nurses’ station, and room service for me is only a phone call away. If I want a change, I can sit in the window
seat and watch the parking lot comings and goings.
What even the most well-equipped hospital room cannot
mitigate is the mental wilderness that is the hospital bedside. Technically,
I have most of the tools I need to do much of my work of sermon preparation and
writing. I am in email communication with any church members or staff that choose to
find me through that medium. (I can even blog!) The one thing that I am lacking is the ability
to focus on much beyond these four walls.
So I’ll quit trying.
I will turn back to the hard-hitting stories found in my complimentary
USA Today. After I meander through that, I’ll pick up a mandatory book that I’ve
got to slog through before a mandatory seminar next week. And that will pretty much use up what little
brainpower I’ve got sitting in this hospital room. The good news is that my
father will exchange his hospital room for his apartment by the end of the day. Once he gets home, hopefully my brain cells will
find their way home, too.
