THE FIZZLED FILTER

365 Days of Thanksliving — Day 261

“Oh, my! He’s a big boy.”

I heard her voice from across the room. I turned to say hello. Gazing at her face, I realized I hadn’t met her before. But that’s not uncommon in a nursing home. Residents come and go, most usually to their eternal home.

I looked at this dear saint, smiled, and replied with a silly snark: “Yah! You’re right. I’m well fed.”

“You sure are, young man. I bet you eat everyone’s food besides your own. Your tummy is way too big!”

What more could I do but giggle, smile, and nod. She isn’t wrong, I thought.

I mean, this is your friendly, fat friar we’re talking about – that “fat-n-sassy” just Jason you know so well. Who am I to lie? My BMI resides somewhere on the Gabriel Iglesias’ “fluffy” scale: partway between husky and Godzilla. This dear saint just said aloud what everyone else is thinking but never dares say aloud.

Some of the ladies in the room apologized for her outburst. There was no need. She had no idea what she was saying. They confirmed my presumption that she’s a resident in the home’s memory care unit.

Like many who suffer from dementia (perhaps Alzheimer’s, being one form), this gal’s filter fizzled some time ago. Her outburst wasn’t her fault, not in the truest sense. It was that old sinful woman in her coming out (in the way it can in any of us). Besides, her being wheeled into the chapel caused me to presume God had forgiven her a long time ago. Who was I to be offended by the comical truth?

But then… Next thing I know, she was gone. She’d escaped. How an elderly woman in a wheelchair could move that quick, I can’t tell ya. The staff panicked. “Where’d she go? one CNA asked in fear. “We better find her before she gets too far.”

Before I knew it, the little hand hit 10, and it was time for our service to begin. I prayed and then we sang. And just as we began, this dear saint had returned and joined in the chorus as we all belted out “Blessed Assurance” – one of the best hymns, IMHO.

Let’s take a quick detour to a roadside café. Just for a second, image our world where no one, like anyone, had a filter on their mouth. Yikes! I’d be utter chaos. Road rage, as my friend Stacy said, would be Mickey Mouse stuff. I’d be like living through “the Purge” or like “Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome” all the time.

Thank goodness for humanity’s sake, God installed some kind of hidden filter in our brains — one that, so far, has prevented a total societal apocalypse from happening. About that unseen filter, King David penned about God setting one in place. From Psalm 141 we hear:

“LORD, I call on you; hurry to help me. Listen to my voice when I call on you. May my prayer be set before you as incense, the raising of my hands as the evening offering. LORD, set up a guard for my mouth; keep watch at the door of my lips. Do not let my heart turn to any evil thing or perform wicked acts with evildoers….”

While David’s Psalm is more of prayer asking God to guard our mouths, I think it’s safe to infer the Creator installed some kind of filter in our noggins to screen those socially uncouth truths that sometimes get expressed.

Whether He did or didn’t, I nevertheless thank Him for often guarding our lips. Because, well, think about it: if He didn’t, life would turn real ugly, real quick. The world would devolve into the kinds of stuff that we read about in the last chapters of the Book.

Let’s get serious for a bit. Truly, I think it’s hard to watch some of our elders lose their mental cognition. My FIL’s second wife died from early onset Alzheimer’s at 62. Before Alzheimer’s robbed her of life, Janette was the kindest, little church mouse you’d ever meet. But good golly, when the dementia hit, there were a few days when we could tell her filter was fizzling out. Sometimes, all’s we could do was laugh. Most often, we just prayed.

As Janette was in my prayers, this dear saint is in my prayers tonight also. This all said, I do gotta say, for one short moment, her fizzled filter gave me a good laugh. And besides: my encounter with her made great material for tonight’s blog, wouldn’t you agree? For that, I too must thank the Lord.

Ya know, there’s a lot to be thankful for today. Now it’s your turn. Share what you’re grateful for today. Drop your “unfiltered” story below.