Last rites for a dying pump

The sound I could hear coming from the Trinity Hall Mechanical Room wasn’t a happy one.

For sure, circulating pumps make noise when they are working. But these sounds were beyond the normal whirring of a motor that was working properly.

I could hear metal vibrating and bearings that were thinking to themselves—“I’ve grown weary of this same predictable redundancy day after day, I’m ready to check out.”

Eventually, the I’m not happy sound was annoying staff members who could hear something, but they weren’t quite sure what that sound was.

Our associate pastor asked, “What is that sound?”

I responded, “A pump in need of its last rites.”

So, I asked our HVAC company to stop by to offer an assessment of the ailing pump.

Their assessment was bleak.

The pump needed to be placed in mechanical hospice.

This highly reliable and well-built pump had been circulating chilled water during the often brutal Richmond summers since July 1987. The pump kept people in the Trinity Hall wing of the building from melting on those unbearable summer days.

The estimated cost for the pump’s funeral was close to $13,800. The pump alone was nearly $8,000.

I protested the high cost of that funeral to the estimator. I asked him to sharpen his pencil. He obliged this request. The price reduced almost a thousand dollars.

There was no way that our current budget could afford the funeral cost for a new pump. The harsh winter had been rough on our HVAC systems and budget.

I pushed back.

I thought to myself.

I appreciate the almost forty years of loyalty from this pump.

In this fast-paced, every changing world, I sense that loyalty is becoming a scarce commodity.

I asked if the loyal pump could be rebuilt?

Our lead HVAC technician said that was a possibility.

So with a bit more investigation, we determined that we could shutdown the pump and still keep that section of the building cool.

Late on Thursday afternoon, I pulled down on the arm of the singular circuit for that pump. In a matter of seconds the pump was quiet.

On Friday morning, another technician stopped by to remove the pump. This was no easy task. The pump is bulky, heavy, and in a tight location. Eventually, the technician won.

The pump was transported to Roy’s Electric. For over seventy five years, Roy’s has developed a reliable reputation for assessing old pumps and determining if they are salvageable and able to be rebuilt. This $90.00 assessment will hopefully give us a positive answer to rebuild the pump.

If the pump can be rebuilt with new parts and quality hands on assembly, the cost to bring it back to life is $3,000.

My fingers are crossed that the pump can be rebuilt. Our church budget will appreciate the difference in price.

Keeping an eye on the daily workings of a church is not much different from keeping a daily eye on the workings of our own bodies. Just as mechanical rooms are complicated—so are our human bodies.

We never know when our bodies might opt to have a difficult conversation with us.

I’m sure God and Jesus hear difficult prayers everyday from people around the world.

These people are reaching out because a loved one might be nearing the end.

Clearly, human beings are a lot different from mechanical room HVAC pumps. A pump can be replaced, or maybe rebuilt.

That’s not always the case for human beings. Sometimes, doctors with lots of dignity, grace, and respect must tell families— I’m sorry, but we have no other options.

If I’m lucky before the end of June, I’ll turn seventy-three.

I think how fortunate I’ve been. I wonder how many more birthdays I might have in me?

Despite my efforts to take care of myself, I wonder when will my luck run out?

Today at church, I had a long conversation with a friend who had lost his wife to cancer. Despite this devastating loss, he found comfort in a recent research breakthrough for the type of cancer she battled. That breakthrough was a ray of hope for the future.

Isaiah 41:10 states: “Don’t be afraid, for I am with you. Don’t be discouraged, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you. I will hold you up with My victorious right hand.”

In her book, “The Wings of Hope: Survivor,” Lailah Gifty Akita wrote: “Hope is hanging on to the promises of God.”

Doesn’t matter if you’re dealing with a weary old HVAC pump, or the frailty of human life, sometimes, the only hope we have is “hanging on to the promises of God.”