[Faith-talk] Good Night Message for Tuesday, January 28, 2013

[Linda Mentink]

No, I don't think it was an angel. It was a man with the same name 
stationed at Fort Brag where his son was 25 years ago, as it says. 
This young man was a real person, not an angel.

Blessings,

Linda

At 09:02 PM 1/29/2013, you wrote:
>Hello and good morning, afternoon or evening wherever you live in 
>this world.  I hope that your day is going well or went well.
>
>Today's story has a bit of a mysterious element to it, though you 
>won't find that out until the very end.  Entitled "Who Was That 
>Man?," it was written by Richard Bauman, a writer from California, 
>who begins the story with the following disclaimer:  The story is 
>true, but all names and locations have been changed.  And now to the 
>story itself.
>
>As the nurse hung up the phone, she said to her co-worker, "Mr. 
>Dunston's son is here."
>
>"I'll go meet him at the elevator," replied the nurse's 
>aide.  Should I take him to Mr. Dunston's room?" The nurse nodded, 
>as she studied the paperwork in front of her.
>
>Edward Dunston was in Central Hospital.  His 85-year-old body was 
>failing.  Barely conscious when he arrived by ambulance three days 
>prior, he asked for his son, Luke.  Whispering, he told the nurse 
>that Luke was in the army and stationed at Fort Bragg in North Carolina.
>
>Now he was in and out of consciousness.  Most of the time he didn't 
>know if it was day or night, and he usually wasn't aware of the 
>nurses changing his bed, inserting I.V. needles or taking his blood pressure.
>
>The aide met Luke Dunston at the elevator.  She was surprised.  To 
>her he looked too young to be Mr. Dunston's son, more like a 
>grandson, she thought.  But she said nothing.  "I'll take you to 
>your father's room," she said, and walked quickly down the hall.
>
>She entered the dimly lighted room and went to Edward's bed.  She 
>softly said, "Your son is here, Mr. Dunston." His eyes opened, he 
>looked at Luke and smiled.  Then he closed his eyes to sleep.
>
>Luke sat down in a chair at the bedside, took the old man's hand, 
>and started stroking it.  Luke whispered to him.  The nurse's aide 
>heard him say:  "I'm right here.  I'll stay with you as long as you need me."
>
>Throughout the night as the nurses monitored the elder Dunston's 
>vital signs, they knew he probably wouldn't live more than 24 
>hours.  They were all relieved his son had arrived to be with 
>him.  Several times they asked the younger Dunston if he wanted 
>something to eat or drink.  Each time he shook his head in reply and 
>held onto the old man's hand.
>
>At about seven in the morning, the monitors at the nurses' station 
>shrieked, announcing the death of Edward Dunston.  As nurses entered 
>his room to remove monitors and I.V.'s, Luke Dunston was still 
>holding the old man's hand.  He let go, only when the nurses started 
>to offer their condolences.
>
>Then, he said:  "Who was that man?"
>
>Wide-eyed, one of the nurses asked, "Wasn't he your father?"
>
>"I've never seen him before in my life," replied Luke.
>
>"If he wasn't your father," demanded one of the nurses, "why didn't 
>you say so when you walked into his room?"
>
>"I had wondered what my dad was doing in the middle of Ohio, since 
>he lives in Paris, Texas," he said.  "As soon as I saw this man, I 
>knew there had been a mistake.  But if I'd said anything, you all 
>would have sent me away.
>
>"He needed his son.  He was too sick to recognize that I'm not 
>him.  But I was here, his son wasn't, so I decided to stand in for 
>him." Corporal Luke Dunston stood, turned and walked to the 
>elevator, leaving the nurses to ponder his words--and his deed.
>
>Later that day hospital staff located the correct Luke Dunston.  He 
>had been in the army, and his last post had been Fort Bragg--but 
>that had been 25 years earlier.  He lived in California.  The old 
>man had apparently become confused about his son's location.  Though 
>he wasn't able to be with his father during his last hours, he did 
>return to middle Ohio to see his father one more time and to make 
>the funeral arrangements.
>
>He also learned from the nurses about Corporal Luke Dunston, the 
>total stranger, who stood in for him and comforted his father in his 
>last hours.
>
>And there you have Richard's article for today.  The only conclusion 
>I can draw is that God sent an angel to the elder Mr. Dunston during 
>his last hours on earth.  Do you all come to the same conclusion?
>
>And now may the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob just keep us safe, 
>individually and collectively, throughout this night or day and 
>especially in these last days in which we live.  Your Christian 
>friend and brother, Paul
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