Bowled over

An amazing thing happened on a recent Sunday. We had a wonderful service, but just as everyone was leaving, I was informed that, “Someone wants to see you.”

I knew what that meant. It's not unusual for someone to come in at the end of the service, asking for help. I suspect these people wait outside until they see worshippers leaving, and then they come in.

You might be surprised at how often we get telephone calls and visits from people looking for handouts. It happens almost every day, and sometimes, it happens several times a day. Of course, we want to help people, but we also have to be good stewards of our limited resources. Our usual practice is to wait for the recommendation of a community agency before acting, but we have to deal with the folks who drop by on a case-by-case basis. We have to realize that these people are often in distressful circumstances and may have been denied help more than once by other churches, so they can be a bit defensive as they make the rounds.

So needless to say, on this Sunday morning, I expected the worst. And sure enough, the first thing I heard from the fellow waiting for me was, “You the pastor?” Which is almost invariably the opening line used by people looking for a handout.

“Y-e-e-e-e-s,” I replied. I'll admit I dragged it out a bit in a wary kind of way.

Then he began his story. They always have a story – usually complicated, with several layers.

But instead of the usual sob story, this man told me of how he had passed the church one day, after we had cut up the Bradford pear tree that had fallen. The man noticed the wood we left for city workers to carry away. He took some of the wood, he told me. (He said this almost apologetically, although from my perspective, if the wood could be useful to someone, that was fine with me.

Then, he explained how he likes to make things from wood, and how he likes to give something back to the place where he got the wood.

He gave me a bag with a large wooden bowl, with his name and date on the bottom.

Having presented the bowl, he left. It was all he wanted to do.

It is really quite a work of art. I was truly humbled.

It's easy to grow cynical and hard-hearted at times, especially when there are so many out there who seem to “work the system,” looking for handouts instead of help. But here was a guy with no agenda except to give us a gift in return for helping him – and we didn't even know we had helped him.

I hope he makes good use of all the wood he took. And thanks to God for a reminder not to be so cynical next time.

The Rev. Countiss is pastor at Colonial Heights UMC, Knoxville District. This article was originally published in “Colonial Highlights,” the church newsletter.

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