From the Chaplain

March 20, 2023

​

THE LAST LEAF

"Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends."

                                                                             John 15:14

   While in Northern Virginia to celebrate the Christmas holiday with our daughter and her family, a winter storm swept through the area bringing sub-freezing temper-atures and extremely high gusts of icy wind. Unfortunately, my responsibilities included taking the dog out for his early morning routine. My ordeal ushered in a bout of flu for three or four days, perhaps caused by exposure. As I shivered in the miserable cold, I noticed one single leaf on the tree in the front yard that was desperately hanging on while flapping violently in the wind. I scanned the tree carefully with frost covered eyeballs and confirmed that this was, indeed, the last leaf.
   Immediately I recalled a story from the collections of William Sydney Porter (1862-1910), pen named, O. Henry.
The Last Leaf is the story of two young aspiring artists, Johnsy, and Sue, who shared an upstairs apartment in Greenwich Village. The winter was extremely harsh during the December of this story’s setting. In addition to the severe weather, there was a flu and pneumonia epidemic that spread throughout the inhabitants of New York City. Johnsy was one of the statistics and became seriously ill. As the doctor left the girl’s apartment, he told Sue that Johnsy had pneumonia and there was nothing more he could do. Johnsy stared outside her bedroom window at the adjacent wall that had a vine growing on it with one single leaf. Johnsy told Sue that she was dying and had a premonition that she would die when the last leaf fell.
    As she pulled down the window shade, Sue told Johnsy to focus on something other than the leaf and try to get a good night’s rest. Sue shared Johnsy’s prognosis with old man Behrman, who lived in a first-floor apartment and who was also an artist. Old Behrman never fulfilled his dreams of painting a masterpiece and had given up any hope of greatness. That night another cold front swept through the city with an abundance of wind, rain, and ice. On the next morning Sue reluctantly raised the shade at Johnsy’s request. The leaf was still there! It stood strangely still in the high wind, and its vibrant green and red colors were inspirational. Johnsy looked at the beautiful leaf, took heart, regained her strength, and began to improve. They found old man Behrman lying on his bed in wet clothes, mud on his shoes, and with green and red paint on his weathered hands and painters attire. He himself had succumbed to pneumonia while giving his life for a friend. Behrman had painted his masterpiece.
   There are a couple of connected narratives in the Scriptures that are similar to O. Henry’s story. The first is from the Old Testament and found in Numbers 21:8, 9. “And the LORD said unto Moses, Make thee a fiery serpent, and set it upon a pole: and it shall come to pass, that every one that is bitten, when he looketh upon it, shall live. And Moses made a serpent of brass, and put it upon a pole, 

​