I’ll Fly Away

It was an old church, well, at least old by today’s standards. It stood across the street from Hamlin Park on the northwest side of Chicago. About a mile down the street were the Projects where I lived and the bridge over the Chicago River.

It was in that setting that God saw fit to shape my soul.

Drunkards or “bums” as we called them in those days lay on benches wreaking of alcohol while my sister and I waited daily for the bus for school.

Though the setting was not ideal for every mother’s dream, it was food for my soul.

So many questions!! Why is this man blind? Why is this man wreaking of alcohol? Why are some people rich and some poor? Why is my mom deaf? Why am I here?

It was at the church where I found my answers. Not that God hadn’t been nudging me through the years, but it took someone sitting down with me and helping me to understand the Bible and then challenging me to bring my questions to God.

Oh, I love those early days of faith.

Our worship leader had a headful of white hair and when he led worship, he would throw his head back and forth while moving his hands and his hair would flop from one side to another. I loved his enthusiasm.

We sang the old hymns with gusto!!

It turns out that I’m not the only one in the family who loves old hymns. So did my nephew, Ken. His favorite outing was to go to a country western show with violin playing, dancing and toe stomping music.

He loved the LORD and He loved to sing.

He had special needs and wasn’t always easy to understand. Though, he never had a regular job, that didn’t stop his church from hiring him. They asked him to be the official greeter, and he took his job seriously!! Nobody came to church without being greeted by Ken.

Last week, Ken graduated from earth to the Presence of God.

It was a hard week for us all. He suffered from cancer, took chemo, got an infection in his blood and eventually within one week his organs began to shut down.

His mom never left his side.

By the time Lance and I arrived in Kansas City, he was on maximum life support, agitated, and barely able to keep his eyes open.

We had so many questions and desperately needed wisdom.

Would he hold on until the whole family arrived? Would he be alert enough to enjoy a bit of conversation and humor before passing? When should he be pulled from life support??  

I want to tell you, that God gave wisdom!!! He was present in our suffering!!

We decided to remove the tubes and give enough meds to keep his blood flowing. And his eyes opened. It was incredible. Though tired he was alert and smiled. His first words were “I feel good.” We played his favorite country music, told jokes, read Scripture and showed videos of him playing his violin for the church’s Christmas program.  

He even gave his famous Donald Duck impressions!!

Then someone in the room shouted, “Ken, what is your favorite hymn?”

He smiled and said, “I’ll fly away.” We huddled together and sang while Ken mouthed the words…

Some glad morning when this life is o’er, I’ll fly away;
To a home on God’s celestial shore, I’ll fly away.

I’ll fly away, Oh glory; I’ll fly away;
when I die, Hallelujah, by and by, I’ll fly away.

It was a hard week, but God was present!!!! Love filled the room, and his passing was quiet and peaceful as he quietly fell asleep and burst onto God’s celestial shore.