Dear John:
As I ponder the flood of thoughts and feelings which are still prevalent from the gathering it amazes me how God does things. For brevity, I am only going to write out about one incident which connected with a statement Damien made at the gathering tonight.
While waiting at the hospital waiting room Tuesday night when Joseph had an apparent allergic reaction, I was sitting across from a very young couple. The mother, I believe, of the daughter who was waiting with them was courteous and caring for her daughter’s well being. The young boy’s attire was with the ear rings and, I call them, low-rider pants. Now, normally I pay little attention to clothing, but this particular ensemble has always been distasteful to me. The young girl was about a week away from having her baby. Due to their age, I assumed they had gotten to that point without planning for it. I did feel sorry for someone starting out in this life in that situation, so very very young. I pondered how will they take care of the child which would be here soon. Automatically, a prayer seemed to come under my breath God help them. Little did I know God was going to use them to teach me this night.
Joseph name was called, and he was ushered back to a room in the Emergency room. By this time, I thought Joseph was some better. The waiting was made much more pleasant by the company from Betty and Earl. The times they have helped me are too numerous to mention. Just their presence was comforting. Caroline and I went back with him.
As a matter of habit, any time I go into any business environment, I note the efficiency of the operation to see how much waste is there, realizing that those costs probably will be passed on to me if I do business with that company. Unfortunately for me, my opinion of a substantial part of hospital operations are they are very inefficient and often too redundant.
As I was sitting there, the Doctor arrived, I immediately liked his attitude and demeanor. Thankfulness flooded me for a hospital, doctors, a clean facility and nurses to look after Joseph. Everyone of them seemed to be hand-picked to care for us as a family, and Joseph as a patient. This thankfulness just seemed to trump all my other thoughts, and my mind wondered to all the situations around the world where this type of care isn’t available. I could only sit there and under my breath utter thanksgiving to God, over and over. Decisions were made as to what was going to be for Joseph’s care, and then it became a wait and see issue.
While waiting, I had to go back out into the waiting room, and I happened to meet the young man I spoke about earlier. I asked him how his wife was doing, and he took a moment to explain what was wrong and why they were there. His genuine care for his wife and new born touched my heart deeply. Immediately, repentance came for how I had judged him earlier based on appearance. My upbringing had imposed on me judgment without the spirit, which is never correct, even when it is correct. I knew how I felt about this particular ensemble and made no apologies for it in the past. Based on Preacher Clark’s experience about the long hair, I knew my fixed opinion needed to be corrected, but I couldn’t do it. This night God fixed it. From now on, I feel certain I can’t judge with my eyes based on this experience.
To me, one of the things Damien said which connected with this experience was in regards to judging God’s creation in relation to people. I can’t find the words to communicate how this connected with my experience at the hospital, but I know it does.
I am very thankful for this change God made in me, I needed a fix and he gave it.
Brother Wendell
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Thanks, Wendell.
I was just recently telling someone of the angel who visited my father and changed his feelings toward young men with long hair, back in the early 1970s. It is a precious gift to have Jesus condescend to help us get past our weaknesses.
jdc