Day by day

Two close friends of mine, Lina and Elias, are pastors in an evangelical church. Our families have been blessed to know each other for almost fifty years. Part of their ministry has taken them, and their family, to Uganda and India. There, they worked with the poorest and marginalized as missionaries. They wrote letters throughout this period to my family. We kept them in our thoughts and prayers and encouraged them by sending care packages of supplies not found where they were living. It created a strong bond of love, continued to this day.

Their years in Uganda were just after the Idi Amin regime. They lived in a house riddled with bullet holes which had been completely trashed. They made it liveable. It was a scary time for anyone surviving in the midst of chaos, a life of fear and unrest. One day a child stopped at their gate with a tin cup and asked for some water. They had been warned against letting anyone into their compound, so the request was denied. Almost immediately Lina greatly regretted it. And, just as Peter denied knowing Jesus, and afterwards wept bitterly, (Luke 22: 55-62), she remembered the words that Jesus spoke in Matthew 10:42 – “And if anyone gives even a cup of cold water to one of these little ones because he is my disciple, I tell you the truth, he will certainly not lose his reward.” That biblical passage changed their lives, I believe for the better.

Each one of us has at some time had a lightning bolt experience which created a change in life for the better. In my case, as a single Mom, I felt I had reached rock bottom. I prayed for forgiveness and help to start again. I literally felt a huge load lift off my shoulders. So, in spite of everything, I survived. Now each morning I say a prayer taught to me by the nuns of The Community of the Sisters of the Church at St. Mildred’s College in Toronto in the early 60’s:  

“O Lord I ask you to help me this day
in all I think, and do, and say,
Come into my heart and live in me
that I may live to glorify Thee, both now and in eternity.”

Saying this prayer doesn’t make me perfect—far from it—but each morning I ask to be led to those who need help. I find that often these connections result in my being blessed. Some years ago I remember a chaplain at the Ottawa Civic Hospital telling me that each day when he visited the patients on the Cancer Ward, he was ministered to by them. It humbled him.

Heed the words in Hebrews 13:2(b) “…for by so doing some people have entertained angels without knowing it.”  This is something to seriously consider as you begin your day.

Thanks be to God!