Much of life is an endless round of making the coffee and putting away the chairs. At least that is how it often feels from the minister’s point of view. I have joked that at Theological School we should have a mandatory course on hospitality as that is often what we are called upon to do. And I don’t mind it – I think that providing a welcoming space and a place of comfort and sharing is the church at its best.
It is often in these casual or social times that people open up and reveal the things that matter most. It is also when we sometimes find out how a simple act or word, one that is now long forgotten by the giver, was a valuable and sometimes life-changing moment for the receiver. Every now and then I am told that I once made a comment, gave a hug or extended an opportunity that at the time, and even in retrospect seemed like a small thing but it made a huge impact in the life of another. A small giving of self can make all the difference.
The truth of it is that we never know how a small thing to us can be immeasurable to another.
An elderly woman in a former congregation in Georgetown used to quote this poem to me. The words have taken on more significance over the years.
It was written by R.L.Sharpe in 1809
Isn’t it strange, that princes and kings,
and clowns that caper in sawdust rings,
and common folk like you and me,
are builders for eternity?
To each is given a bag of tools,
a shapeless mass and a Book of Rules;
and each must make, ‘ere time has flown,
a stumbling block or a stepping stone.
I can only pray that I provide more stepping stones than stumbling blocks and that every now and then I am graced by someone telling me I did just that.
