Thanks for Your Persistence
>> 11/8/09
The invitation didn’t sound inviting in the moment when extended. An elderly lady requested that I join her for lunch in the cafeteria at the retirement center which is now her home.
She tried to tempt me with the knowledge that they employ a gourmet chef. “The food,” she said, “is really tasty.” I remained unconvinced, mostly because of my inability to associate the words “retirement center” with a four or five star dining experience.
Enumerating the number of weeks that pass before her request is accepted would be embarrassing. A hectic work schedule is offered as justification for my procrastination.
There’s no shortage of people who want the pastor to be involved in their circumstances. The decision about where you spend your time isn’t as simple as choosing between black and white. There’s lots of gray mixed in there.
My friend is nothing if not persistent. Over time she wears me down with her gracious persistence. When I knock on her door on the appointed day, the joy her broad smile communicates is in complete contradiction to the quiet reluctance within me.
The conversation is lively even if our pace is not as we start down the hallway. She’s a thoughtful person with a thorough grasp of her mental faculties and possessing clarity of conviction. Her frankness is refreshing as opinions are expressed on one topic and then the next. You never have to wonder about where she stands.
People at surrounding tables speculate about the identity of her guest. This delights her no end. Some assume I am her son. There is something motherly about the way she guides me through the gauntlet of food as our trays are filled.
Humans are a predictable lot. A discernable yet unwritten etiquette determines who sits at what table. This is not unlike the way members of my congregation tend to sit in the same seat each week as if their names are engraved there, though they are not. The experience is a like playing musical chairs and I cannot help but wonder who my presence will displace.
We are joined by two ladies who take chairs on either side of me while I sit facing my friend. After obligatory introductions are made I offer to return thanks to the One who makes every meal possible. To my surprise, the quality of the food is not exaggerated.
Conversation reveals that the lady on my left came to live at the center after her husband died. With the help of her daughter she made the move from her home in the country. Shortly thereafter her daughter became ill and passed away.
One of the most tragic experiences with which we cope in this life is loneliness. I’m convinced we are created to share life in community. The knowledge that you are absolutely alone is an unbearable weight none of us is meant to carry.
Moments listening to her story seem to provide a blessed, if brief, respite from the wrestling match with that formidable opponent. Within me there is a fullness of spirit not present when sitting down.
The lady to my right was born in Russia. She and her husband immigrated to the United States before I was born. He entered med school while she became a nurse. After years of preparation in California they became medical missionaries.
For years they help run a hospital in a troubled nation where people have limited access to medical care. She tells of the blessing of obtaining surgical equipment from departing U. S. forces which were superior to the crude instruments they’d been using. They worked diligently to obtain resources to keep the doors of the institution open.
They pursue this calling out of love for the One who made them and because of the great need of the people they served. Her story is related through a strong Russian accent and an even stronger sense of conviction. She speaks as if their service was the most important work in the world.
We are fortunate in this life if we find a reason for living that requires nothing short of the best within us. If that work also leaves the world a better place, then we are twice blessed. Life doesn’t get any better than that.
If I live as long as my friend on the left there will come a day when I will likely face the foe she battles. My prayer is that there will be someone who, by their simple presence, will bring a measure of relief from the weight of loneliness. In the economy of this life we are present for others with a hope that someone will be present with us when our time comes.
The new friend on the left reminds me of how causally I often regard the days given to me. My desire is to spend the limited time here engaged something significant. I’d like to finish this life with the knowledge that my best was invested and that others somehow benefit from those efforts.
Things are not always as they appear. Life is unpredictable. We mostly think of this in terms of the unexpected difficulties we face.
Life is also filled with unexpected blessings. On this day I am the recipient of an unanticipated gift through the presence of three women who accept me into the circle of their friendship. One thought comes to mind as I bid my gracious host goodbye.
Thanks for your persistence.
