For this cause we faint not, but though our outward man perish, yet the inward man is renewed day by day. 2 Corinthians 4 v 16

“Four cups of tea , Four cups of tea , Four cups of tea “.  Sarah, on Primrose Ward ,  Westfield Hospital,  had a glazed look in her eyes , staring straight ahead.  “Four cups of tea” she intoned. She was walking up and down the ward, an elderly figure, slightly stooped, in a world of her own. Her voice was weird. “Four cups of tea”, is all she says. Day after day, up and down, driving the staff to distraction. Primrose Ward is a forbidding place to say the least. To reach it you wander down what seem to be miles of corridors, with the disturbing cries of half demented souls echoing in your ears. Eventually you find the right door, this being unlocked you enter through a short passage to the lounge area. Here you may find around twenty patients, perhaps more, wandering or sitting listlessly.  Some are dressed, others in night attire. There is an air of unreality about the place. 

People are moving around without any purpose or direction and there is a constant background of noise.

Some patients are stopped expertly if they wander too far. Others are asleep. The lighting is strange, not dimmed yet unreal. Most of all you feel the heat.  It must be in the nineties in the winter months. There is a faint smell of urine, talc powder and mothballs, strangely mixed. The staff are friendly and kind, only too happy to have a diversion from the monotony.  They are also, I imagine a little inquisitive and perhaps wary.  As we sing Sarah comes alive, and is transformed into another person.  When we had arrived we had said “hello” all around, with very little, if any, response.  Just blank stares. Now faces light up and life stirs, lips move slowly. “Oh that was lovely.” It’s Sarah.  We sing another hymn,  “Jesus wants me for a sunbeam “. We watch as Sarah sings each word.  Later we go around and talk to the patients, Sarah is amazing.  She is telling me her life story. I am aware that the nurses are watching open mouthed, some literally. This was our first visit to the ward, and we were unaware of Sarah’s background. On our return to the ward, two weeks later, we saw nurses with pens and paper to hand, ready to record events. Apparently   our last visit had caused quite a stir.  Sarah  had  reverted  to  “Four  cups  of  tea”  again and had continued uninterrupted until now.  As we lifted up our voices to Worship and Praise God, we were thrilled to see Sarah once again join in, remembering all the words.  The student nurses were filling note pads.

We realised that although the “Outer man is perishing, (the flesh) the inner man (the spiritual) is renewed day by day”.  Later we sat at the table sharing a cup of tea with the nurses, they told us that “nothing like this had happened before”.   That evening I had enjoyed another conversation with a very lucid Sarah.  She  told  me  that  she had  been  a  Sunday  school teacher .  She had remembered the boys she taught.  She had also played the piano and the organ and so readily recognised the choruses and the hymns. I was moved as she related her heartache over a boyfriend, Bill. Should she marry him?  I asked  her if she knew the chorus, ‘God loves you and I love you and that’s the way it should be?’ .  “No I don’t remember that one”.  On our next visit to the ward, we taught the ladies this chorus. How thrilled we were, after the meeting to hear Sarah singing, “God loves you and I love you and that’s the way it should be”. Yes, God’s ways are mysterious and wonderful. Praise his name.

“For in the wilderness, shall waters break out and stream in the desert” Isaiah.35.v.G.