Spiritual Journey Thursday: Noticing the Ordinary Saints Among Us

 

It's the first Thursday of the month
and time to show up with our friends
for Spiritual Journey Thursday.
Margaret is hosting this month and chose
the words ordinary saints as our theme. 

When I read Margaret's poem, "How to Be an Ordinary Saint," I remembered a reflection I wrote several years ago for our church ladies' group Christmas party. It was about angels among us, but it could just as easily be about ordinary saints. So I've changed a bit of the wording to share some of the examples from this refection. It shows the ordinary ways that we minister to each other as a community of believers. We refer to each other as brother or sister in our church congregation, so you'll notice my use of the term sister to indicate the ordinary saints in our midst. 

"Several years ago, I mentioned to a sister in our congregation how much I had enjoyed her roasted veggies at a church event.  Imagine my surprise when she showed up at my door the next day with a package of the vegetables in hand and the recipe attached.  An angel (ordinary saint) on my doorstep and during the very busy holiday season!

When I returned to full-time work, I was lucky to have a sister in my workplace.  She found me more than once, overwhelmed by my new challenges and always offered friendship and support.  She also blessed me with a mug and a note every month of that first year.  And did I mention that she’s the best gift giver ever?

A certain sister called me very frustrated after a recent event because she went back to the church to collect the tablecloths and SOMEONE had taken them.  She wanted to launder them and return them to the closet.  Since I was that SOMEONE, and the tablecloths were in the trunk of my car, I promptly delivered them to her doorstep.  She blessed me by taking one of the things off my “to do” list.

I faced a particularly difficult time, and my husband was out of town.  When I phoned my own sisters, I sobbed  . . . wishing that they were here to buoy me up during this challenging time.  Within the hour, several sisters arrived at my house, offering their wisdom, their love, their hugs, and close shoulders to cry on. 

I’m always surprised to learn of the countless acts of service provided by sisters with no fanfare, just a gentle reaching out to a fellow sister in need.  One such sister provided housing for a sister’s family who were in town for a family funeral.   Love extended and a roof provided.

This sister is a true angel with a genuine smile that blesses all of us.  I know she is supposed to remain unnamed, but you may know our particular chocolate angel.  Her sweet compilation of our yearly chocolate orders blesses our families with sweetness and hot chocolate throughout the year. 

This sister used to be my visiting teacher and oh, how I loved her visits.  She’s one of the quiet sisters in our congregation.   But she always provided a spiritual message and knew me well enough to share the best treats imaginable – a book, a notepad, a bit of chocolate, blackberries, a magazine article that she knew I would enjoy, and always her friendship.

Some of you know this story because I’ve shared it before about my visiting teacher who gave me a small flashlight for my car  - to brighten those dark winter nights when we fumble at the mailbox.  Her pink light has accompanied me through many winters and reminds me of her thoughtfulness and also of the light of the Savior illuminating our paths. 

I love how the talents of so many sisters bless our congregation – you may know some of these sisters – the one we always turn to for that decorative touch needed for a display, the sister who provides flowers for our meetings, the sister who blesses us with her ability to find a theme and create a beautiful evening for us to enjoy together, the sister who is efficient and accomplishes whatever she is asked to do in record time, the sister who cooks a ham and delivers it to a dinner, the sister who uses her culinary talents to create beautiful and tasty desserts.   I feel truly blessed to know a host of earthly angels (ordinary saints) who strengthen me through their examples of service and love."

I love these closing words from Margaret's post: "Living in gratitude, noticing the little gracious things people do, spreads all the saint juices around and fills our world with love." Let's look for ways to spread the saint juices around and fill our world with love as we enter this busy, joyous season. 

(Adding a link to a poem I wrote which reflects my thinking about angels at a beautiful time in my life as we awaited and celebrated the birth of grandson Jack.)