(A)An...
Illustration
(A)
An elderly man sat on a park bench one afternoon late in the fall. The air was cold, but he had been shopping on foot for two hours, ached, and needed to put down his parcels and rest a little before heading for home. He was never prone to feel sorry for himself, but he felt a loneliness in the cold gusts of wind and the thought of returning to his now empty house did not excite him. He stared at his large, rough hands as he worked them back and forth between his knees. Suddenly a smaller hand, pink and chubby, was placed on top of his own. He jerked his head back and looked straight into the upturned face of a toddler. The toddler grinned. The elderly man smiled back and said "Hi-yah" in a bit of a raspy voice. Then he got to his feet, took the child by the hand, and led it gently back to its mother who stood smiling, bright as the child, just a few paces away. "Thank you," the mother said, "he has just learned to walk and has to race over and greet everybody!" The man smiled, nodded, then hefted his packages and started for home. The ache was gone now. So was the loneliness. Memories of a chubby hand and a grinning face warmed him. And just a few minutes before, he had possessed no idea of how close he was to this particular experience of joy.
In our lesson from Luke, Jesus reminds us that God's kingdom is breathtakingly near. Amid the cold and the loneliness and the hurts, God is reaching out to us with the touch of love. We can neglect that touch if we so choose, or we can attend to it, receive it, and go on our way refreshed and strengthened by all that we receive in this season.
-- Doughty
An elderly man sat on a park bench one afternoon late in the fall. The air was cold, but he had been shopping on foot for two hours, ached, and needed to put down his parcels and rest a little before heading for home. He was never prone to feel sorry for himself, but he felt a loneliness in the cold gusts of wind and the thought of returning to his now empty house did not excite him. He stared at his large, rough hands as he worked them back and forth between his knees. Suddenly a smaller hand, pink and chubby, was placed on top of his own. He jerked his head back and looked straight into the upturned face of a toddler. The toddler grinned. The elderly man smiled back and said "Hi-yah" in a bit of a raspy voice. Then he got to his feet, took the child by the hand, and led it gently back to its mother who stood smiling, bright as the child, just a few paces away. "Thank you," the mother said, "he has just learned to walk and has to race over and greet everybody!" The man smiled, nodded, then hefted his packages and started for home. The ache was gone now. So was the loneliness. Memories of a chubby hand and a grinning face warmed him. And just a few minutes before, he had possessed no idea of how close he was to this particular experience of joy.
In our lesson from Luke, Jesus reminds us that God's kingdom is breathtakingly near. Amid the cold and the loneliness and the hurts, God is reaching out to us with the touch of love. We can neglect that touch if we so choose, or we can attend to it, receive it, and go on our way refreshed and strengthened by all that we receive in this season.
-- Doughty
