God Shining Through

 Pope Francis recently gave a talk for the Feast of All Saints (November 1) in which he compared the saints to stained glass windows, which let the light shine through, each with its own particular hue.  When I think of the people I know, I can see the analogy:  some shine with brilliance/ intelligence; some with goodness and kindness; some with generosity and thoughtfulness; some with a great sense of humor that lightens every encounter.  When Jesus walked the earth, He embodied in every moment the goodness and image of Who God Is.  When He washed the feet of the apostles, He enfleshed -- made visible and concrete-- what God the Father has been doing for us since the beginning.  When He protected the woman caught in adultery, or called Matthew, or healed lepers, He was shining forth the Face of the Father.

A friend of mine had a stroke several years ago, which left her somewhat incapacitated.  Yet she is fully recovered enough to cook for 60 homeless people a day (someone delivers the food and picks it up, and she cooks in her own kitchen).  Once the owner of her own catering business in Atlanta, she probably has every right to feel sorry for herself, but now it's as if she were born to do this!  

We have just survived yet another hurricane, and when I walked out of my house Thursday morning, I was overwhelmed by what needed to be done and by our inability to tackle the task.  Spontaneously, I asked God to send someone to help us, preferably "someone with a chain saw."  Within a couple of hours, a neighbor in the next block whom we barely knew arrived --- with a chain saw and a tree saw.  "I want to help," he said, looking at the two trees that had partially come down in front of the house.  I didn't have the heart to show him the back yard.  "If you can just cut those trees down,' I told him, "I'll drag the pieces to the curb."  He worked for a couple of hours cutting one huge dead tree to the ground and sawing the pieces of another tree that had split down the middle.  

Later that morning, after  he had left, a young couple on bikes stopped to help me haul debris to the curb.  They cleared the ground of all the logs and branches that had been cut down and then offered to  help with whatever else we needed.  "Do you have a chain saw?" I asked, thinking of the wasteland in the back of the house.  He assured me he could borrow one, and I immediately hired them to come back the next day, which they did.  Their work was impeccable, as was their work ethic.  Never have I seen anyone tackle such a huge task with the energy and enthusiasm they had!  Not only did God answer MY prayer, but He answered theirs:  the young man had been in prison for 3 years at one time, and now finds it hard to get a job.  So now we have great help for everyday maintenance, and they have work.  (I have advertised their help to all my friends in the garden club, and now they have jobs lined up for awhile.)

In the past few days without power, neighbors have all worked together to ease the burden.  One of my neighbors arrived early the first day to offer space in her chest freezer for my frozen items; another brought us a small camp stove so that we could have hot coffee in the morning and hot soup at night -- what a huge difference that made!  Other neighbors brought us ice when it became available on the 3rd day, along with coffee from McDonald's, and told us not to worry about the broken fence between our homes -- they would repair it themselves.

In times like this, it is so easy to see "God shining through" each person in his/her own particular way.  What a joy it is!  Even a child can reflect the sweet love of God given to us in one another.  My favorite little boy (not quite 4 yet) met me after church Saturday with the biggest/ tightest hug I think I have ever received, and then he took my hand in his little hand and said, "I walk you to your car, Miss Gayle."  

Even in difficult times, God has a way of opening the clouds and letting His love shine through!