Temple Talk: November 10, 2024

Many of you know that during my nursing career, I worked in transplant.  From my business classes, I used to say that I worked both the supply and the demand  sides.  Supply I worked for the organ procurement organization in the New York metropolitan area.  Demand – I worked as a coordinator for the kidney transplant program at Downstate, in Brooklyn.

Transplant is heavily regulated, Medicare and Medicaid pay for many transplants, especially kidney transplant.  In fact treating End Stage Renal Disease, ie kidney failure is the first disease entity covered by Medicare.  Kidney transplant is a treatment for kidney failure.  A little trivia, when Congress was discussing implementing Medicare and what would be covered, in the 1960’s, a patient’s wife dialyzed her husband in Congress to demonstrate how easy it was.

When the government pays for something, they regulate that thing.  One of  the regulations for transplant centers, is that they have criteria that potential recipients must meet before they can be listed for an organ.  And there has to be a Selection Committee that determines who can be listed.

One of the criteria is often that the potential recipient has a support system.  No one likes to transplant a person who lives alone.  I can remember the doubt raised by many of the physicians on our selection committee, when the coordinator said that the patient lived alone but had “church family”.  Those docs would ask what are these church members going to do?

I would often tell them that sometimes “church family” was more supportive than blood family.And where did I get that idea?  Well from SMT of course.

Right now I have a small band of folks who offer me a ride home or to church. Thank you Jen and Jenn and Ken, Bernadette and Terri.  And then there are all of you who just ask how things are going.

At the beginning of the pandemic, my brain decided to stop compensating for my ears and I found myself needing hearing aids.  Now there was not much any one but an ENT doc could do for me, But my church family stepped up to give me a rash of sick comments.  And for me that is appreciated.

The November the year after Super Storm Sandy, I had surgery on a torn tendon in my foot.  I was in cast with crutches for six weeks.  I had worked out a schedule of folks who would cover the Alter Guild for me. Until Mark said – no way was it acceptable  that I would be away from SMT for that long.  And a shit load (can I say that in church?  Guess I just did) of folks stepped up to pick me up so I could attend  services.  Not to mention, Mark, who brought me to many doctor’s appointments and Pastors Mary and Margay, who stayed with me in the hospital and brought me home for my first post-op night.

Now I do have blood family who are there for me.  But they are hundreds to thousands of miles away. And I know that I am not the only member who has the support of their SMT church family.  I see many of you as I look around.

And the Warmth of SMT extends to those who are not members... One of the first reasons that I was first attracted to SMT, right after  Martin Luther  helped lay the cornerstone, was LTM.  Loved that I had found a church that talked the talk but also walked the walk.  Thanks to a slew of volunteers more than 100 people get a nourishing meal four days a week.  And thanks to Mark and several others, 50-70 folks get a restaurant style dinner one Thursday a month. And YOU can be one of those people, just reach out to Mark.

And the LTM daytime or evening folks are here with us now.  So many churches help feed people, but ask them not to come to the sanctuary.  NOT SMT.  SMT extends its Warmth to everyone.  We don’t care where you sleep at night.  We just hope you do sleep.

And thanks to this years stewardship drive, several folks will get a warm flannel blanket, that you can help put together during hospitality.  It takes no sewing – just tying knots – you can do a square knot or a granny knot.

Or you can contribute a hat or scarf, or as my father used to call them Handle warmers to the Giving tree during December.

Or you can put together a satchel of warmth and love for a Seafarer during November.

The Warmth of SMT comes from a church family that cares.  Cares about each other and cares about every person that walks through one of our doors.