If Christ is the Answer, what is the question?

Original Lila Mattison (cropped by me)

In Large orange letters the sentence "Christ is the Answer" has been proclaimed to travelers on New York's route 17 for decades. Best I can determine a man named George Dobbs Kirk Jr. put up these words into the side of a hill in 1959, a year before his oldest son died a troubling death of unknown circumstances. The Calvary Baptist Church of Gibson, NY now maintains the sentence.

So, what is the question? It could be this one, "Where did we come from?" Christ as part of the Godhead was there when the world was created. I'm not a Deist. I don't believe God set the world in motion and sat back to see how it would all come out. King David marvels that God knew him as he was being knit together in his mother's womb. If the question is "Where did we come from?" Christ is the answer according to Christian teaching.

We don't ask that question. Most of us start with the fact that we exist. Blame our parents for the features we don't like and move on with life. So, does Christ answer a question we do ask? Well, what sorts of questions do we ask? Am I raising my kids right? How will I make it through this month's bills? Can I deal with my mother going into a nursing home? Will my car keep running long enough to save for another one? What do we have to make supper?

Christ's teachings can give direction for some of those questions. "Am I raising my kids right?" Jesus said, "Do to others as you would want them to do to you?" Am I communicating that lifestyle to my kids? Not only do they hear me harping, um proclaiming, uh saying the words, but do they see me living them?

How will I make it through this month's bills? Christ taught us to pray, "Please give us this day our daily bread." If you use "bread" in the 1960's sense of money, then Christ may have an answer to the question of this month's bills.

As a matter of fact, I can find answers to many questions in Jesus' teaching. The topics he expounded on are timeless. His answers are true today, as well as over 2000 years ago. Some clever person will likely point out that the sentence on the hill doesn't say, "Christ's teachings are the Answer." The words stand, "Christ is the Answer." What does that mean?

In Philippians 1:21 Paul sums up his life, "For me to live is Christ and to die is gain." Now we are getting at it. Paul is writing this letter to the first church of Europe in the very important Roman Colony of Philippi. This colony city was established by Augustus Caesar after his victory that unified the empire under he and his allies. Paul and Silas had preached the good news there and been thrown in jail for casting a demon out of a slave girl. The demon had been making money for the slave girl's owners. That night Paul and Silas were singing at midnight when an earthquake leveled the jail. No one was hurt or escaped. Paul had the chance to tell about Christ to the jailer. He committed himself to Christ and was baptized, along with his whole family.

Paul is writing to them from Rome. He has been a prisoner there for a long, undetermined period. As a result, he has been able to share the truth of Christ with his captors and many have come to trust the Christ for forgiveness and new life. It is from this experience that Paul wrote 'For me to live is Christ.'

No matter where Paul was he sought a way to make Christ known, jail, prison, marketplace, Europe, Asia, Palestine, wherever. He was so caught up in Christ that Christ summed up his life. Dying would only take him through the tomb to Christ, so that was gain. I would submit that those who live at that level of commitment find Christ is the answer to their lives. Going to jail for Jesus, "Good let's see how I can live for Christ there." Some said Paul was crazy, that his great learning had driven him insane. Many believe what Paul taught and lived regarding Christ, hence the sentence on the hill so many centuries later.

Maybe that sign is so hard to understand, because we have never met a Paul or his Christ.

Weddings

I performed my first wedding at my current church. Heat wilted and glistened and danced with joy on the faces of the bride and groom. Their child was part of the wedding, as a baby bump filling out Mom's dress. In a booming voice edged with emotion, Dad gave away his daughter with the words, "Her Mother and I." We sang "Jesus Loves Me" as the bride and groom poured sand together into their unity jar, creating swirls of white and pink representing two lives becoming one.

Under the shade of our church yard trees the wedding party greeted a cooling breeze and smiled for the camera. The whole experience felt like a breath of fresh air in a society supposedly walking away from conventional marriage.

The next weekend, I set up sound outdoors for my nephew's wedding. He and his bride married on the edge of a field I used to carefully 4 wheel through, so I wouldn't knock down too much hay. The ridge they married on is the big toe of Towner Hill, one of the highest old mountains surrounding my minuscule hometown of Rome, PA. We waited as a passing thundershower cleaned the assembled chairs and crafted bower one more time. The bride and groom turned their backs on Rome Valley and presented their vows to Almighty God and gathered family. As Pastor Theo intoned God's hatred of divorce, a passing thunderbolt underlined the sentiment.

Normally I spout all sorts of opinions about any number of topics built around marriage in the 21st century. Marriage and purity has grown almost as complicated as in Roman times. Purity is wonderful and so is redemption and so is watching young lovers meet before God and pledge their lives to each other.

Lessons and ideas I learned from Mom

How to enjoy humor. My mom never met a joke she didn't find a little bit funny. When deeply tickled, she laughed with abandon. 

How to carry out jobs well. Mom began her carreer at IBM Federal Systems division attaching many small components to circuit boards for satellites. She finished her work at a Sears catalog store, where she processed orders, kept stock, dealt with warranties and returns and contacted customers to take delivery. Though each job required diverse skills, she executed both excellently. 

The value of performing music every day. My piano lessons only lasted six months. Mom played and sang every day she could. She also encouraged the family to join her around the piano and taught us to harmonize. 

How to live humbly.  My mother was very skilled at a lot of tasks. From horticulture to customer relations she made situations beautiful. If you complimented Mom, she accepted the words reluctantly. In general, she enjoyed what she did and took pleasure in doing it well. 

How to get seriously angry and not cuss like a sailor. Man could I push her buttons. Wow was it fun to flush her red with anger. She was not a cusser. She held some serious volume for a passionate response. Her words might take on some color, but nothing like today's society where some use the f-bomb for a comma. 

How to worry. My mom was a champ at worrying. One of the few benefits of Alzheimer's is she no longer frets like she used to. 

A Face of Alzheimer's

Nothing like a new program to put you in touch with pictures. The "Faces" function on Photos helps draw together one person's image over time. I pulled together a 10 year progression of my Mom's face as Alzheimer's has chiseled away at her brain.

June 2005

From what we can tell, she was fine in 2005. She sits next to me in Mom and Dad's camper. Looks like we just came from church. Her eyes are clear and the brows flair slightly with her native intelligence.

June 2007

In 2007 I begin to see the uncertainty on her face. She is located toward the right next to the silver haired lady in the power blue jacket. This family gathering was for a funeral. Large gatherings have grown difficult. She needs to leave as soon as she can.

June 2009

In 2009, she is wearing the silly little kids look. Her voice raised and her cadence came sing song like a 3 year old. She started dropping her food on purpose and other silly acts. I remember we figured she had entered he second childhood around that time.

April 2010

In 2010, I see fear and sadness. This was the last time I remember speaking with my mom as Mom. We both enjoyed about 10 minutes on Mother's Day. Her sing song voice left and her eyes cleared. In the picture it seems she knows she is not right.

September 2011

In 2011 she is in her making noises instead of talking phase. The worry is gone. Every 5 minutes is a new adventure. She can still play the piano and sing.

June 2012

In 2012 the disease has aged the stuffing out of her. Her physical age is 74, but she is 10 years frailer. The older folks in the picture are all within a year of her age, but look younger.

October 2013

In 2013 she has reached her final move, back to the town I grew up in. She is very thin and her hair is always out of place. My mom almost always had her hair put together.

November 2014

In 2014, well you can see for yourself. Her color thinness and bearing shout ancient. The Alzheimer's life vacuum has reached full strength. 

I didn't specifically notice the progression living through it. We only came back to the area in July of 2011. See ing all the pictures together was an eye opener for me. Tomorrow Dad and my brother and I begin to study nursing homes where Mom's body can finish dying with loving care.