Wednesday, September 10, 2003
Wednesday, September 10, 2003
The LORD passed before him, and proclaimed, "The LORD, the LORD, a God
merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness.
John Killinger once told a moving story about a couple whose newborn son was mentally
retarded. They were crushed, of course. Still, they loved him as they would any child of theirs.
They built a bedroom with glass walls so that wherever they were in the house they would be
able to keep an eye on him. For seventeen years, the mother slept next to the boy with her hand
next to his heart. If he ever started having trouble breathing, she would be able to wake up and
give him artificial respiration. For seventeen years, they lived this way.
One sad day, however, a neighbor's girl fell from a tree and hurt her arm. The mother left her
son to rush the girl to a hospital. As she was standing in the emergency room of the hospital with
the little girl, her husband came in carrying the body of their son. He had died while she was at
the hospital. His father had tried vainly to revive him.
As the boy lay before them in peace, the parents wept. But then they gave thanks to God for the
gift of their son. "For," his mother said, "he taught us how to love."
(Exodus.6
NRSV)
The late Israeli Prime Minister Golda Meir once said she realized that she was not beautiful, but
that her lack of beauty was a blessing in disguise, since it forced her to develop her inner
resources. As someone has said, our disappointments are "His appointments." By God's grace
painful experiences or situations can help us grow.
Dear God, thank you for the many opportunities you have given me to love. Amen.
