Grace at the Door

Grace sits by the front door of her assisted living community, every day, all day long. She has done so for years.  She will get up for meals and other matters concerning the body, but she always returns to the same spot.  She is soft spoken, well dressed, and her hair is always nicely tended to with just a tint of reddish-blonde color.  She will smile and say hello to me, but that is generally about as far as she is willing to engage in conversation.  Therefore, she surprised me this week when she quietly said, "That man needs to move.  He has been sitting there too long." 

 She was pointing to a man in a wheelchair who was sitting by the front desk. He was exemplary in being the antithesis of Grace's tidiness.  She looked as though she could step onto a cruise ship.  He looked like a tangle of kelp stranded on the shore.  I went over to him and asked if he would like to join me for worship. I could barely hear his yes.  An assistant, who was watching me, helped me unlock his wheelchair.  During worship, he held his song sheet but did not sing.  He said no to communion.  Yet afterwards, he quietly thanked me and told me his name was George.  As the assistant came over to retrieve him, I wondered what storms George was enduring.  I also wondered if I would ever see him again.       

 

I walked back into the lobby, and Grace called me over.  She said, "Thank you for moving him.  He should not sit around too long."   I simply smiled and nodded.  She did the same.  Order had been restored.

       

 All of us at one time or another arrive rumpled and weary.  I am always surprised by who shows up to offer a helping hand.         

      

  

Let us then approach the throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need.  

 

Hebrews 4:16