I would love to be able to sit down and really talk with my Dad.

You know, a real heart-to-heart. There are so many questions.  What did it feel like when you had me?  What was going through your mind when you didn’t get that promotion you so badly wanted and (in my opinion) so richly deserved? How does its feel to have a 30-foot Marlin on the line when you’re on a tiny boat in the middle of the Gulf Stream? Were you sad that you never had more than one child?

And how did it hit you when you learned that your first grandson had Down Syndrome?

In case you were wondering, I haven’t lost my father.  He’s still alive and relatively well. However, the effects of almost 20 years with Parkinsons Disease have taken their toll, and it’s often difficult to hold conversations with him that are longer than just a few sentences. Thanks to modern medicine, his body tremors are largely under control. But his hearing and his mind slip away a little more each day.

Dad was never much of a talker anyway, so some of my longing can be attributed to Dad just being himself. But much of it comes from the simple inability to understand each other.

Dad’s also never shared with me his relationship with Jesus Christ, even though I’ve tried several times to talk with him about it over the years. My kids have been more successful getting through to him, though his responses to them were cryptic and, for the most part, unenlightening. I’ve not asked lately, and I know I should. Thankfully, I think we can still have that conversation, but I wonder for how much longer.

Suddenly, I find the words of Isaiah ringing in my ear.

“Seek the Lord while he may be found; call on him while he is near.” (Isaiah 55:6)

Evangelists are quick to point out that none of us are guaranteed even one more minute on this Earth. But death is not the only way for someone’s time to find the Lord to run out.

If the mind of someone you know and love is slipping away, I hope you’ll take the time to help them find the Lord. He’s near to them, right now. You’re there, aren’t you?

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