A pretty church, newer building, Sunday morning. I sat an empty pew and admired the clerestory, the natural wood and stone. Center-church, an old, marble baptismal font, dark and stained. If I’d had some soap and water with me, I’d have given that thing a good scrubbing. After the service, I visited with the altar-guild. I asked about the font. “Oh, that’s smoke-stain from the fire that burned our old church. That font reminds us of bygone days.” Well, maybe. But I’m pretty certain I’d not let a child of mine get too close to that font.
Dismissals
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It took all summer for the young man to earn enough to buy the car. Driving home, the exhaust spewed smoke and the engine quit. He sat the running board. From a shady porch, a man asked, “Need a hand?” The man raised the hood, shook his head, fetched a toolbox. Soon, parts lay about the sidewalk. For hours, the man bent over the engine. At last the man said, “Turn the key.” The engine sputtered and caught. No smoke. The young man asked, “What can I give you?” The man said, “Nothing. I had a car like this once.”
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The man drank coffee from a chipped diner mug and told me about a time when, driving the logging road, he saw a young boy walking where he oughtn’t. The boy’s mother was cook at the diner so the man and the boy drove there and sat at the counter. It wasn’t long before the boy’s mother turned to see her son and the tale was told of the logging road and the ride back to the diner. She said, “The coffee’s on me. You take the mug with you. Remember what you’ve done. This boy is all I’ve got.”
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At the symphony, Mitsuko Uchida walked from side stage to the Steinway concert grand, bowed low, sat on the bench and raised her hands to the orchestra. Mitsuko Uchida would both conduct and play Mozart piano concertos. I was mesmerized. At intermission, two men in dark suits went to the piano, inserted a wrench into the workings, tapped a key, turned the wrench, tapped and turned until that one note was perfect. Of the 88 piano keys, one key was out of tune. With a full orchestra playing, I could never hear it, but Mitsuko Uchida did, and played on.
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Far, far away, deep in the outer reaches of space, another civilization lives on a planet much like our own … or not at all like our own! We will communicate with these people and tell them of an intense, bright star seen two thousand years ago in our eastern sky. We will tell of the manger, the birth, the Son of God who came and lived among us. The people of the faraway planet will say to us, “Yes! We, too, saw that bright star in our eastern sky and the Son of God came and lived also with us.”
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Long ago, Santa gave me a 250 piece jigsaw puzzle. I put it together on Christmas Day and found there were pieces missing. My mother allowed that we could return Santa’s gift at the local five-and-dime. The next day we went. There was a line. A sign said: “Your money cheerfully returned if not delighted!” This seemed too easy. What would happen if someone tried to get their money back when there was nothing wrong with their gift?” My mother said, “The storekeeper will say, ‘I was delighted with your money and I will not return a dime!’”
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The second-grade Christmas Gala came and Santa was hosting a gift exchange. Shopping with my parents, we settled on a box of 24 colored pencils. We wrapped the pencils and hurried to the Gala but we were late and I was one of the last, tired kids to sit on Santa’s knee. I tore the familiar-looking paper from the gift Santa gave me: 24 colored pencils. A long, sad walk to the car. On the drive home my Dad said, “With those 24 pencils, you can make every, possible color.” I began to feel good about the possibilities.
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Gruff, with calloused hands, Andy was retired after fifty years at the mill. In our church, Andy was a quiet, steady presence in the choir and at Bible study. One day, Andy said he wanted to do something to help people. Our priest asked, “Well, what can you do?” Answer: “I can run a crane and I’m good with a shovel.” Our priest said, “Not much call for those but tell me what you would most like to do to help people.” Answer: “I’d like to read books to people who can’t read.” To this day, Andy’s ministry is reading.
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We were a mixed group visiting West Texas. We had been invited to a Texas steakhouse by Texans. Branding irons and steer horns were the decor. We sat at a big table. The waitress came, “What’ll ya’ll have?” Orders were taken. A man at our table, the last to order, spoke in a loud voice, “I’m a vegetarian!” The room went silent. Forks stopped in midair and the discomfort was palpable. People stared. We drew a collective breath but the waitress didn’t miss a beat, “Just you wait a little minute and I’ll be right back with our vegetarian menu.”
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“I am glad I answered your call today though sorry for the news you shared with me. I will remain prayerful about this and listen intently to God for what I am to say or do, though often God would have me say or do nothing, only to be silent, a listener and a friend, never to believe that I alone can remedy problems like yours, as much as I might like to. I will be here for you until God’s word comes to us. Until then, let us continue to share, one with the other, God’s grace and peace.”
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The words ‘Thank You’ open our hearts to God’s love. Lord, thank you for the loving hands that prepared this food. Lord, thank you for the rough hands of persons unknown to us, strangers in the fields who worked to gather this food for our table. May they be with us in spirit. May this be a holy hour as we break bread together, as we refresh ourselves in one another’s love, and so in yours. And if a stranger should knock at the door, let them in! For by doing so, some have entertained angels without knowing it. Amen
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I’ve visited for years at the men’s homeless shelter in Cleveland but today, for the first time, I visited at the women’s shelter. Sophia was born in Armenia. Her grandparents survived the genocide and began the long, circuitous journey to the United States. Sophia cared for her parents until they died. She lived in their home until she herself fell ill and lost her job. Sophia was evicted as utility bills and home repairs overtook her. Still, her faith remains. “God has been with me this far, from Armenia to Cleveland. God will carry me the rest of the way.”
