I was still upset by the Capitol insurrections that took place on January 6th. Grateful that the new president and vice-president had been sworn in without rampant violence, I was nevertheless still plagued by the heavy burden of the promise of discord from my fellow citizens and our elected leaders.
Driving back to my home on a grey afternoon with spitting snow showers and drizzle, I glanced out of my windshield and saw a full rainbow before me. This symbol of God’s promise stunned me. Tears stung my eyes. I felt the heaviness begin to lift and soar into the bright colors from God’s paintbrush.
In my mind I began to process the words that a fellow traveler had spoken to me only minutes before. I had taken a half-dozen handmade afghans to a local agency committed to housing homeless families. I had felt the call to create these small symbols of caring for my fellows. When she took the afghans, the young woman in the office told me a story of how one of my previous creations had been received.
A homeless teen who had been living in a vehicle with her father was moving into one of the agency’s apartments. When she saw her bedroom she was thrilled. She now had her OWN pillow, her OWN bed, her OWN warm blankets. Then she spied the afghan spread across the foot of the bed. “Oh,” she cried. “Someone cared about me. Someone cared enough about ME to make this for ME!”
The young woman who had witnessed this had tears in her eyes. I felt my throat close. It had been my fondest wish, as I crocheted the afghan, that the family receiving the simple, bright throw would indeed feel that they were singled out for special care. For reasons I did not know, did not need to know, their lives had been turned inside out. I could do this one small thing to help them.
God knew this. He knew this! Because of this one simple act, this act that cost so little time and money, the young agency woman, the homeless family, and I had been blessed. We were a community woven together by a soft, warm, bright afghan. We can all do something like this. We don’t need accolades, we don’t need our picture in the paper. We can all minister to each other, quietly, joyously.
God works through such small, seemingly insignificant ways. By heeding His call, we can all be blessed, we can all be giving rainbows among the clouds. Let’s do it!
Dear Father of us all, I thank you for once again showing me that no situation is too small or too large for You to handle. I struggle daily, forgetting to allow You to manage the world. Help me to hear your directions and heed your call. In this way I shall receive Your blessings and bring a spark of joy to those I touch, no matter how fleetingly. Amen.
Traveling To Emmaus 