The Chair Beside the Bed

“I was sick and you visited me.”Matthew 25:36

It is rarely a comfortable chair. The angle is wrong, or the height, or it faces the machines instead of the face.

Yet it is there. A place to sit. A small sign that you may stay.

Jesus sat with people. He also let others sit near him when words were no longer useful. He said that when we visit the sick, we visit him. The visit does not have to be long. It does not have to be full of talk.

The chair beside the bed is an invitation. It does not demand a conversation. It only makes it possible to be there.

You do not have to fill the silence. You do not have to earn the right to remain.

At Mass we sit as well as stand and kneel. Some prayer is only presence. Christ does not ask the visitor to be useful every minute. He asks us not to leave the person alone if we can help it.

Sit if you are able. The chair is already doing its quiet work.

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