Today started out not unlike any other Monday in our office. We had a few weekend warriors to piece back together, our regularly scheduled appointments were coming in, and we were all laughing as usual to welcome in the week the right way. It always helps to laugh the week in – it gets the energy flowing in the right direction. Then someone said something that caught me off guard. John “Preacher” Layfield was in the Medical Center in Macon and was not expected to make it through the day. I had to go there and see him one more time.
9 weeks ago today, someone referred Preacher Layfield to me to help him with some sciatica that he was having. He has been in the pulpit at Emmanuel Baptist Church every Sunday that he was able for the past 36 years, and the sciatic nerve pain that he was experiencing at that time was keeping him from doing what he loved and was called to do. I promised him and his sweet wife that I would do all I could to help get his body back in shape for the pulpit. He had some important messages yet to deliver. I worked hard on him and within just a few visits had him back on his feet and he was able to preach again. Our whole office got involved in watching his progress. His smile was captivating when he started to feel better, and he always ended our time together with a kiss on my cheek and the words, “Bless you.” We all watched Mildred’s face when she came in with him to see if they were getting rest at night again or if it had been a rough one. The good days were signified by the ‘two thumbs up’ sign from Mildred. One Monday Mildred said that we should have been at church that past Sunday because John had really pulled out all the stops and had given everyone an earful. I’m sure he had.
I excused myself from the people I was seeing this morning and drove quickly to Macon. I wanted to see him and knew in my heart that he was not going to be around for long. In our short 9 weeks together Preacher Layfield touched my life in unexpected ways. He taught me lessons in perseverance, friendship, and love. He always stood up for what he believed in and didn’t worry about what anyone else thought. One day I introduced him to one of my patients who is on his way to seminary in the Methodist tradition. The young minister-in-training was excited to meet a veteran such as the one in front of him. Without missing a lick, Preacher Layfield said, “He’d be all right if he was a Baptist.” He never lost his sense of humor.
As I entered his hospital room I felt privileged to be seeing a man who had lived his life as we all hope to do. He was an inspiration to those who knew him, he was funny and warm at the same time, and he did what he loved right up until the very end of his life. He preached last Sunday, and if it weren’t for his being in the hospital he would have done so yesterday. I reached out and touched his hand then rubbed his head as I told him thank you for touching my life the way he did. He could not respond with words, but I could feel his spirit in the warmth of his skin and I knew that he received my message. I tearfully went out of the room as others were making their way in, and I knew that I had seen John Layfield for the very last time. I was overwhelmed by the comments from his family about how I had been able to help him in his last weeks to do what he loved, and I felt small. I had been doing what I was trained to do. I should have felt a mile high for actually helping him, but the selfish part of me just wanted my friend back at that moment. His son-in-law said that I had made a believer out of Preacher Layfield with the relief of his sciatic nerve pain. It seems that for years people have been trying to get him to see a chiropractor, but God saved him for me. I had made a believer out of him? How many believers has he made out of others?
Preacher Layfield left this world at 3:40 this afternoon. I was taking my jacket off at the end of the day when Mildred called to say she was home after a long couple of days. It is with humble admiration that I bid Preacher Layfield adieu. It has been said that that which you give you receive. I have received blessings beyond belief from Preacher Layfield. The selfish part of me wanted him to hang around awhile longer, but his work on earth was clearly done. He truly was a good and faithful servant. I pray that my life will be spent as his was – doing what I love and was called to do until the very end. Treat your spirit well.