”Stable vs. Stable” Advent Devotion for December 18, 2021

Stable vs. Stable

Written by Laura Meixner

Read by Bill Anciaux

Let the heavens rejoice, let the earth be glad; let the sea resound, and all that is in it.  Let the fields be jubilant, and everything in them; let all the trees of the forest sing for joy.  Let all creation rejoice before the LORD, for he comes, he comes to judge the earth.  He will judge the world in righteousness and the peoples in his faithfulness. 

–Psalm 96:11-13

 

Two definitions of stable:

 

Noun – a stable

A building for the lodging and feeding of horses, cattle, etc., such a building with stalls; a collection of animals housed in such a building.

 

Adjective – stable

Not subject to emotional instability or illness; sane; mentally sound.

 

My Dad suffered with dementia for several years before he passed away.  It was my privilege to visit him every Thursday after work in the care facility where he lived.  He always smiled when I walked into his room.  Every week I asked him if he remembered my name and he said, “No, but you belong to me.”  That made me very happy every time he said it!

Dad loved to reminisce about days gone by – especially his time growing up on the farm outside Augusta, Wisconsin.  One evening when I visited him, he wanted us to sit in front of his window which looked out on a small courtyard.  It happened to be snowing that afternoon and he told me a story about feeding the cows.  He had just finished feeding the cows and was about to leave the barn to go back in the house.  He heard a noise and as he looked across the barn at the “half-door”, two doe had jumped over the door and into the barn and were feeding right along with the cows.  Now, I don’t know if this is true or something he made up, but I am going to believe it was true because of the look on my dad’s face.  Pure bliss and serenity! 

You might wonder what in the world I’m talking about!

The ‘stable’ to me is peaceful and a pleasant place.  Dad saw the peaceful feeding of the cows and deer together in the stable.  In his last years, my dad wasn’t ‘stable’.  He was subject to emotional instability and wasn’t mentally sound, but he was at peace, and he was happy!  He was ‘stable’ reminiscing about the ‘stable’.  Stable vs. Stable.

 

Lord, thank you for the wonderful visits I had with my dad during his dementia, where I heard a lot of stories from days gone by.  Thank you for the stable where Baby Jesus was born so many years ago.  Thank you for loving us even when we aren’t stable. Help us make relationships which are stable and happy and wonderful!  Amen.