More From Sherry Graf

My experience as a hospital chaplain intern toward the end of college was just the beginning of a lifetime of stepping out of my comfort zone in faith. After graduation I signed up for an internship with a ministry I’d never heard of with the goal of reaching college students for Christ. This led to faith-stretching challenges like raising support, moving across the country, and experiencing winter in the Midwest for the first time (I had only lived in sunny CA prior to that!). What started as a one-year commitment turned into over two decades of serving with the ministry, which offered me countless opportunities to learn how to love and come alongside others in joy and sorrow. God has been so faithful to me and has provide what I need each step of the way.

One story that comes to mind was when a close friend and co-laborer was dying from cancer. Leaving my young children and husband at home, I flew to be with her in her final days. I didn’t know what I could do as she lay unconscious in her hospital bed, but I wanted to go and be present. One evening friends from our church filed in to sing over her.  I’m sure they felt a little uneasy too, but they came to do what they could. It was a beautiful worship service and great testimony of her faith and love of music. Those final days of her life were sacred moments that I easily could have missed if I had wanted to avoid the uncomfortable and unknown. From that experience I wrote the following poem.

As Angels Draw Near

Friends gather round
     her bedside to sing
Shallow breaths show
     her great suffering
Tears mixing in
     the praises we bring

As angels draw near,
     your holy saints sing

That sharp moment
     when death tries to sting
We gather round
     triumphant we sing
Praises she loved
     a small offering

As angels draw near,
     your holy saints sing.

A breath away
     from Your Paradise
No more sickness
     on the other side.
You bore sin to
     grant eternal life

As angels draw near,
     your holy saints sing

Faltering words
     starting to fade
She only hears
     heaven’s angelic praise
You take her hand
     her soul you will raise

As angels draw near,
     your holy saints sing