Alterations

ALTERATIONS, the sign read. We had been wondering about the little shop that had recently opened in a building formerly housing a barber shop and more recently a healing center. We brought a couple of things in to have hemmed and were met by an attractive oriental woman with a beautiful smile.

"I compliment you on your decor," my thoughtful husband announced as we entered the cheery interior. "It looks better than when I used to get my hair cut here."

She smiled her appreciation, and soon Howard was carrying on a conversation with her which revealed she was from Viet Nam. Her bright smile hid a sad past, with both parents and brother having been killed in turmoil there, and her husband being imprisoned for 4 years.

"I waited until he was released, then we came here," she said. She said her father had been a government worker, so I suppose political unrest was involved in the tragedies.
She seemed grateful for the freedom of this country.

We recently marked the anniversary of 9/11. How well I remember that morning in 2001. Howard and I had taken our grandchildren for a walk down our country road to a scenic spot at the bottom of a hill where water ran under a low bridge from a pasture lake. The kids were two and four, and after dabbling their feet in the water and catching tadpoles in the roadside ditch, they were ready to go home. Going up the hill was harder than coming down, so we made a pack-saddle with joined arms to carry 2-year-old Rachel, as Corrin dawdled behind, tossing pebbles or picking wildflowers.

Collapsing on the den sofa as we came in, I saw that our son had the television on. He was taking a break from grad school and working locally this semester. Seeing smoke billowing on the screen and hearing a puzzled narrative from a newsman, I thought it was the scene of a plane crash somewhere. Then I heard incredulous voices raised in amazement and caught sight of a plane hitting a tower. The gravity of the situation became apparent, and the day that had dawned so beautifully became a day of terror.

Now we are in uncertain times again, and as others come here for safety and freedom, we
find ourselves concerned about our own. I heard news commentators speculating yesterday about how when dictators are deposed, if something good is not put in their place, something worse will fill the void.

It reminded me of scriptures in Matthew 12:42-45 and Luke 11:24-26 where Jesus talks about an unclean spirit being cast out of a man, then when it returns and finds
the "house...empty, swept and garnished," he takes seven spirits with him worse than himself into the house and the man's state is worse than the beginning. Jesus is telling us not to be satisfied with just cleaning ourselves up, but to fill our lives with the Holy Spirit.

The Bible is full of wisdom, both spiritual and practical. The alterations lady not only alters clothing, she altered her locale. Moving into freedom is always a good idea. And Jesus is the Truth that sets us free!