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February 2008, Page 4.
Index of articles:
by subject,
by date.
In this issue:
(February 2008)
Service books,
Hymn,
Prayer,
Question.
Couldn't you have done more?
This little true story was shared on the “Christians on the Internet” e-mail discussion list by a church organist who lives in Yorkshire. We may often think we are powerless to pass on the faith to the next generations of our families. Maybe we aren’t as powerless as we think? And maybe we should also be less shy about praying in public?
For the week before Christmas I have had my five-year-old grandson staying. We've been to church quite a lot - he came with me to choir practice on the Saturday, and to two services on the Sunday, one a communion, and the other the carol service, and then again on Christmas eve to the Crib Service. He doesn't get much religious input from anywhere else, except I think for the curate who goes into school at intervals.
Anyway, I have been given a very thorough account of the nativity and the events leading up to it, which proves he'd been paying great attention somewhere! And I was asked many searching questions as to why Jesus said they had to eat his body, why the wine was special and why his friends came to supper? He sat with me for some of the service, and with the server for some of the rest of the service, and then he made his way up into the sanctuary where he sat very quietly and watched the proceedings.
But something else must have rubbed off!
On the way back on Sunday evening we were second on the scene at a car accident where someone was trapped in an overturned vehicle. We stopped long enough to ensure that the first people on the scene had organised help - the passenger was phoning emergency services, and the driver was with the casualty. There was not much more I could do to help, and I was a bit worried my small passenger would escape from the car to find out what was happening and cause chaos. So I left them a car blanket to help keep the casualty warm, and we went on our way.
My grandson felt this contribution was not adequate and said we should have done more. So I explained, as patiently as I could after a long day, that help was on its way and the hurt person was being looked after, and there was no point hanging around for the sake of it if there was nothing useful we could do. Yes, he told me accusingly, but I could have said a prayer!
A bit taken aback by this, I said, yes, maybe I could ... . At which point he reassured me that it was all right, because he'd said a prayer while I was getting the blanket!
Sheila