Do you
ever wonder about the people you meet and chat with for a short period of time
who then stand up, wave goodbye and walk out of your life forever? I do! Did God
have a purpose in my meeting this person? Was I helpful in some way or vise
versa? Was I alert enough to let God use me or did I pick up on the message God
might be trying to send me? Yesterday I had over six hours to ponder these
questions.
My husband was due to have hand surgery and since it was the type of surgery where you could go home the same day it was done at a surgical center. I had decided I would just sit and wait rather than driving back and forth. I don’t find entertaining myself a problem. But I am a practical person,. I made sure I had plenty of toys to keep me busy – magazines, a book, my knitting, and I always carry writing materials because I never know when inspiration might strike.
We arrived at the surgical center around eleven o’clock. When the elevator doors opened we saw a reception desk right in front of us. To the right of the elevators was a large waiting room with a T.V. high in the corner of the far wall. The waiting room was quite full and the T.V. was on. We looked to our left and saw four empty chairs under a very large window. They were as far away as we could get from the T.V. and there was plenty of light coming in the window to read by. We looked at each other and without saying a word headed in that direction.
For the first twenty minutes or so my husband was kept busy filling out paper work. I had pulled my new issue of Faith at Work magazine out of my bag and was enjoying the stories when a woman came and plopped down beside me. It was obvious she wanted to talk and I just wanted to read. What to do?
At first I tried giving very short answers to her questions while keeping my eyes on my magazine. She didn’t get the message – she kept on talking. When she said, “I’ve been here since 6:30 this morning”, my head popped up. Compassion swept over me and I realized I was being very selfish. This woman really needed to talk. It was as if God said, “Wake up Georgia, I need your ears, your eyes and your compassionate heart.” And the thought went through my mind, why do we spend so much time looking for our call in the world when half the time it’s right in front of us!
Today God needed me to be a good listener, someone who listens with all of her senses not just one ear. And so for the next hour and a half I did my best to be present for one of God’s children. She had a lot to say! She was of course concerned about her sister who was the one having surgery that day. But she was also trying not to be worried about herself – she said she was due to have some exploratory tests done the next day. I could also hear the regret in her voice when she talked about her daughter. They had evidently had a serious argument and not spoken for the past year.
And so we talked about forgiveness, one of the hardest lessons God has for us to learn. We also talked about prayer and then she opened her purse and showed me some of her treasures. First to come out were the pictures of her children (the beautiful daughter she hasn’t spoken with for a year).
She also showed me a little book of psalms which she always carries with her. Next was a beautiful set of rosary beads that actually smelled like roses. I’m not familiar with rosary beads so I asked her to show me how to pray with them. A short time after that she was called in to sit with her sister in the second stage recovery room. A few minutes later my husband’s name was called and he went in for surgery. We’d been waiting for over two hours so this was going to be a very long day.
Now that I was alone I stood up and turned my chair around so I could see out of the large window right behind me. And then I reached into my bag of toys and pulled out my own form of rosary beads, my knitting needles. Knit a few stitches, say a prayer for my husband. Knit a few stitches, pray for the doctors who are working on his hand. Knit some more and pray for the woman who is having exploratory tests tomorrow. A few more stitches and a prayer for the daughter and the mother who are not speaking. Lord, help them to learn to forgive – not only each other but also themselves for the things that were said, that should have been left unsaid. (Oh Lord, why don’t you clap your hand over our mouths when we are about to hurt one another?)
And that is how I spent the next three and a half hours of the day. Knitting and praying and thanking God for the sunlight on the ever changing clouds outside my window. At one point there was a little tap on my shoulder as my former seatmate passed by with her sister. She whispered, “God bless you,” smiled, stepped into the elevator and out of my life.
Georgia Beckley Jervey is a life-long Episcopalian writing from New Providence NJ.