Betty Day

Betty Day. I will never forget when I received the news that she passed away. It was Sunday evening, it was a little windy, and the sun was going down. What can we say about this woman who came to our church almost a decade ago and yet we knew so little about her? All who knew her would describe her as very reserved person. She was very soft spoken, most of the time never saying a word. I think it was very interesting that she lived on a street named Joan of Arc. Joan of Arc saved her country; in many ways she lived up to that name, she saved her block. She was the person who took care of several people on her block. They always felt blessed to have her living close. She helped her neighbors with grocery shopping, she took people to their doctor appointments, and most of all she gave them a ride to church. She was a loner. She had a face of a warrior and the heart of a servant. She had the strength of a captain and the spirit of a poet. It was very difficult to get close to her but somehow she easily discovered the angels within us. She always told us that Virginia was a God-sent angel to her.

A lot of feelings have run like wild rivers within me since the death of Betty Day. Feelings of guilt, did I do enough for her? Feeling of discouragement, because we lost a faithful servant. Feeling of resentment and questioning toward God about the loss of a member of our congregation. When I received the news, in my prayer to God at that moment was only one word, why?

This woman was content with working in our community, in our church, without being noticed. She worked much behind the scenes, to the point that we will never know how much she did because she never told us or showed us. Even as I visited her at the hospital or at her house, she would ask me about others, would always ask me if I had called or contacted others in the church who were sick or in need. In the midst of her pain and sickness, she was concerned for the needs, suffering and pain of others.

I called her house after I received the news about her passing away, her brother answered the phone. I offered my condolences. I asked if there was anything I could do for him. He stated that his sister requested no funeral, no memorial service, and then he went on to say that the only thing she wanted was her name to be mentioned once during a Sunday worship service after she was gone. I will always wonder why she made a strange request, “for her name to be mentioned only once in worship after her passing away.”

As I was writing about Betty Day this scripture come to mind:

“Yet there are some in the church in Sardis who have not soiled their clothes with evil. They will walk with me in white, for they are worthy. 5 All who are victorious will be clothed in white. I will never erase their names from the Book of Life, but I will announce before my Father and his angels that they are mine.
“Anyone with ears to hear must listen to the Spirit and understand what he is saying to the churches.
Revelation 3:4-6 (New Living Translation)

I wrote this poem in her memory:

Beautiful is the work of quiet people,
Entering of angels to our lives happened through their silence,
Telling of quiet sacrifice in God’s temple,
Telling of new rhythm of the heart and inner voice,
Yielding of one’s soul to the beauty of solitude.

Divine moment’s quiet people give us.
Amounts of heavens they share,
You came to us in silence, and quietly you left us.
And through your silence-
We got to listen to the footsteps of God.

Betty Day, we will always remember silently your name.

Your Church Family