The other day I was at our wonderful Care Center. I so enjoy bringing a weekly Bible Study to a warm welcoming group of my older brothers and sisters in Christ who live there. They give me so much it truly has been my privilege to be there with them.
They however will defer such praise and thank me instead for my time. I guess we have become a mutual admiration society. The gifts they bring to my week are kindness and care, wisdom and laughter. They are indeed a rich part of my week.
So anyway, as I read the Bible story for the week to them and interjected some historical comments and hopefully some humorous reflections, I noticed two ladies at a table across the room. I don’t know how aware one of the women was as to her surroundings, but she reached out to the table in front of her and began to tap it over and over. The other lady at the table who had been looking out into the distance and talking to herself stopped doing so. Slowly she looked at the other woman at the table and then looked at the other woman’s hand tapping, tapping, and tapping.
And then ever so slowly she reached out with both her hands and gently clasped the other lady’s hand in hers. And then she looked at her table companion with such tenderness and said with such expression, “I love you!” The lady who had been tapping the table slowly and slightly turned toward her and almost imperceptibly nodded her head. At once I knew I had seen a holy conversation.
Later that same morning as I visited another saint of our Care Center community she expressed her concern for a friend who is experiencing some health trouble. She ended her statement of concern by saying with deep and tender expression in her voice, “I love her so much!” With that we prayed. We gave thanks for the blessing of friends; we prayed for a blessing to reach out to her friend. As I walked away, I offered my own prayer of thanks that I had been blessed to be there to hear another holy conversation.
Then that same day as I prepared to return to the church, another visitor who had come to see a dear friend greeted me on the way. I saw in the tears in his eyes and heard in the tone of his voice the wealth of love he carried in his heart. Three such moments in one morning, and I knew I was walking in a sacred space. Once again I felt that I was in the presence of angels. Once again words from Holy Scripture came to me from Isaiah 55:11, “So shall my word be that goes forth from my mouth; it shall not return to me empty, but it shall accomplish that which I purpose, and shall prosper in the thing for which I sent it.”
It is my conviction that you and I are witnesses so very often to the presence of angels or the accomplishment of the Word. We are so very often treading on holy ground and crossing sacred spaces. We become privileged to discern the light of God’s love breaking through the clouds of daily living.
For me when I see these things it is like those amazing bright spots of sunshine sparkling out on Lake Superior even on a dark and overcast day. And when I see the sun break through, even in the distance, it is uplifting and carries me through the overcast. It is also my conviction that you and I are given the opportunity to let that light shine. You and I are given the privilege of enacting the Word, which has come from the mouth of God.
We may not always be aware of the sacred space in our common experience; more often we see it in the 20/20 of hindsight. We should remember that love is the greatest gift, the “most excellent way” as the Apostle referred to it, and “the whole law is fulfilled in one word.” Be the love, be the light, be the accomplishing of the Word, and keep watching for the presence of angels.
Each month a member of the Cook County Ministerium will offer Spiritual Reflections. This month our contributor is Reverend Mark Ditmanson of Bethlehem Lutheran Church in Grand Marais.
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