By Joyce Rapp, Town of Lima Historian
Sometimes blessings flow in strange and wondrous ways…sometimes even by Internet. For example, several years ago when I was struggling with a Christmas column for an another newspaper, I received the following e-mail from a friend.
In early October when the brand- new pastor and his wife were assigned to their first ministry, they found a very run-down church in Brooklyn, New York that needed a lot of work. Undaunted, they set a goal to have everything completed for their first service on Christmas Eve. They worked hard so were almost done until a two day rain storm deluged the neighborhood and caused a large piece of plaster, about six by eight feet, to fall from the front wall of the sanctuary. Discouraged, the young pastor cleaned-up the mess and worried that he would have to cancel the Christmas service.
On the way home, he stopped at a local flea market sale where he discovered a beautiful crocheted tablecloth with a cross embroidered in the center – the perfect size to cover the hole. He bought it and hurried back to church. Then it began to snow and he saw an elderly woman running towards him who was trying to catch her bus. She missed it so the pastor invited her to wait in the warm church since she had a long wait for the next bus. She accepted and sat in a pew while the pastor hung the tablecloth over the hole. It was beautiful! When he looked-up though, the woman was walking down the center aisle. Her face was ashen.
“Pastor”, she asked, “where did you get the tablecloth”? The pastor explained. Then, she asked him to check the lower right hand corner. Were the initials EGB crocheted into the cloth. They were the initials of the woman who had made the tablecloth thirty-five years ago…her initials. Then, she told the pastor that before the war, she and her husband had been well-to-do. However, when the Nazis rose to power, she was forced to leave their home. Her husband was to follow her in a week’s time. It never happened. She was captured, sent to prison and never saw her husband or home again.
The pastor tried to give her the tablecloth but she insisted that he keep it for the church. Then, he insisted on driving her to her home in Staten Island. She was only in Brooklyn for her cleaning job.
What a wonderful service they had on Christmas Eve! The church was almost full; the music and spirit were great! When the pastor greeted everyone at the door, many said they would return. One older man continued to sit in the pew and stare at the wall. Then, he asked the pastor where he bought the hanging on the front wall.. He was curious because it was identical to one that his wife had made when they lived in Austria before World War 11 “How could there be two tablecloths so much alike”? He then told the pastor how the arrival of the Nazis had caused his wife to flee for her safety
The young pastor listened carefully and then asked the man if he would like to go for a little ride. Of course…so they drove to Staten Island and the house where he had taken the woman just a few days ago. Then, he helped his new friend climb the three flights of stairs to the woman’s apartment, knocked on the door and saw the greatest Christmas joy anyone could see.
A true story by Pastor Rob Reid
Merry Christmas-Happy Holidays everyone and may every day in the new year be better than the day before.
