 |
| Jack Taylor of Grinnell College. |
I was doing my usual daily 5:30 morning workout, which pays
some penance for my sins of gluttony. I am not there alone in the pre-dawn
hours, for there is a couple who are usually in the gym at the same time sweating
along with me on the elliptical and weight machines. We are pleasant with each
other and exchange some information but when you are working out meaningful
conversation is limited. The high point was a mutual sharing of a reaction to
the news story on the tube that a 5’10’’ basketball player, a guard!!, had scored 138 points, on an average of 3
shots per minute. We laughed in admiration but continued on our own agendas.
Today was different. As they were finishing up, the husband asked
me if I knew that his wife had been diagnosed with cancer and was to begin
chemo the next week. This led to a change in paying attention. I listened as
they talked about the discovery and the planned treatment. I listened without
trying to fix what was outside my competence and allowed the space between us
to become filled with a non-anxious presence. The simple courteous facade slipped
away and we got into the real important things of life. They, who are not
parishioners, asked me to keep her in my prayers –which can be a standard way of
ending conversation with a clerical type. To which I, in my usual response, agreed.
But something had changed and I asked if they would be offended if we prayed
together right now. So, three standing, sweating, vulnerable people, in a
public place, held hands drawing near to the throne of Grace and prayed quietly
- I did the talking but the words were less important than the sacred space. Then we hugged and they left, and I went back
to the machines.
There are so many people walking around in our lives filled
with so many concerns. It is special when we spiritually bump into each other
discovering common ground.
No comments:
Post a Comment