Brotherly Love

Neighborliness and good will are alive and well! I just read a story in our local newspaper of a family of 11 whose van had broken down (down as in dragging the interstate with sparks flying!) on I-35 near neighboring Blackwell (where I grew up), stranding them in the middle of a 2,000-plus mile trip.

The Ministerial Alliance of Blackwell and our city, working through the Salvation Army, put them in motel rooms for five days; a local technology center cancelled lesson plans for the week so that all students could fix the van; a local pastor found used parts in Wichita, Kansas, a new tire was procured at cost in Tonkawa and a muffler in Ponca City. Finally, the displaced group was ready to be on their way, admittedly leaving a part of their hearts in northern Oklahoma. They were quoted as saying they didn’t want to leave here. No wonder! Such kind folks!

Then this morning just as Sunday School was about to start, a pastor and his wife from another church denomination stopped by. They had come about two weeks ago to express sympathy and offer prayer for the pastor and victims of the horrendous accident that had just occurred. Today, he told my husband, who is Interim Pastor, that he had another offering: he wanted his wife to bless us with a solo that she is slated to also perform tonight at a community Thanksgiving service.

And bless us she did! As the magnificent strains of “We Are Standing on Holy Ground” poured forth, congregants stood to their feet, hands raised and tears streaming. What a holy moment! The song touched a chord that embodied shared feelings of gratitude and praise, as well as solace for the trauma we had all gone through. Then as my husband began to preach, it was apparent to all that the song segued perfectly into his message concerning Isaiah’s vision of seeing the Lord “high and lifted up” and the angels' cries of “Holy, Holy, Holy”.

Before the visiting pastor departed, he made the surprising revelation that their church is to receive an offering tonight for our pastors to help with medical expenses. Now that’s neighborliness AND true religion!