Today I went out with a group of ladies from our church and I sat next to this wonderful lady. Her name is Marnie and she is 95 years young. We went out to eat Chinese dim-sum in memory of Jane our former office manager who died before Christmas of cancer.
Marnie is an incredible lady who loves to get out and be part of our church life. From bazaars, to craft classes, to Bible study, to women’s groups to our Sunday service…she is a presence. But more than that for me she is a faith example…a quiet sturdy rock. When Marnie is present I feel like all is right in our church community. Her hearing is not like it used to be, she walks slower but her smile never fades.
We have talked about all kinds of things. We have laughed over silly things and we have sat off to the side as she quietly did cross stitching near the light of a window as we talked of death and dying. One Sunday she came in for church and said “if I don’t always speak to you when I come in it is because words cannot express how much I love you.” These were humbling words to hear that touched deep into my soul.
Today I helped serve all the various dim-sum items as they came around her. I told her I felt like her adopted son. She has become like a mother figure to me and her wisdom and deep quiet faith soak into me like osmosis. Once when baptizing one of the children I brought the child over to Marnie and introduced them to each other and spoke of Marnie as the wisdom of our church family.
Every so often or maybe not often enough…we find ourselves in the presence of wisdom and their story touches our lives and feeds and nurtures us. She once spoke during Advent on hope to our Sunday church family. She said “I struggled to think about what I could say about hope…and then realized that is because it has always been around me”. Such is the woman who is loved by our church family.
Who are the wisdom figures, the story tellers, the bearers of faith who grace our lives. Are we aware? Are we open? As we greet the evening shadows and the day comes to an end. Who have touched us in a deep spiritual way this day or in our lives?
And so today my prayer is thus:
O Holy One,
I am grateful for those encounters with wisdom in my life.
May I continue to be open, to be shaped, to be loved. Amen!
