You did it to Me
" Righteousness is a delicious wine "
This story was sent and written in the words of Nick Sharkey with reference to a man to whom God drew near and to whom He chose to reveal Himself :
" As I came around a curve onto a straight stretch of road, the headlights picked up the dishevelled figure shuffling along, a ragged man of indeterminate age, head against the gale and the sleet. He was one of those souls I can envy in high summer when I feel most heavily burdened by, and enmeshed in, the system.
Everything he owns is on his back or in his pockets and his only concerns are his next crust of bread and tonight's "skipper". On this artic night, however, I was thanking God for my heated car and for the fire and electric blanket that awaited me at journey's end...
This I thought, must be the only living soul to be abroad on foot in the whole of Ireland on this bitter night.
He did not actually solicit a lift with the usual thumb gesture. He kind of half-turned in my direction. I pulled up just beyond him and opened the passenger door. " God bless you sir ", as he slid into the seat bringing with him some of the chill of the night. He brought something else with him too. It was the breath-stopping stench of unwashed body and clothing. Within minutes the wet began to vaporise in the heat of the car. He snuggled back in the seat grunting contentedly, making no attempt even at small talk. As the miasma grew denser, and breathing more painful, I had entered into the same spirit of reticence as my passenger.
"Furtively, I wound the window down. The blast of cold air was a blessing ."Are you going to Tipperary town, Sir ?" he enquired. I wound the window down another notch to inhale sufficient clean air to operate my vocal cords. "I am", I managed to get out without betraying the onset of asphyxia.
Two miles from Tipperary my passenger broke the silence once more. "There's a fierce draught from that window", he complained. I bit my tongue and moaned inwardly to the God whose mercy and compassion depends for its expression in the visible world around me. "As often as you did it to the least of my people, you did it to Me". (Matthew 25 : 40)
Even though my ear was half frozen I closed the offending window. Rounding the corner, the sign Welcome to Tipperary was indeed my delivery, my rock and my salvation.
At last, my ragged travelling companion - one of the least of my brethren - slid out of the seat and with a volley of blessings and thanks was gone. I opened all the windows and turned on the booster fan. After five minutes of relative bliss I battened down again and moved off. Now that my ordeal was over I felt good about myself. Righteousness is a delicious wine. I began to sing God's praises and to thank Him profusely for the massive infusion of grace I felt I had received that night.
About half a mile beyond Tipperary my headlights picked out a young man in a duffel coat. His arm moved in a leisurely ark, thumb extended in a solicitation. I slowed down cautiously and studied him very carefully. Having decided that he looked like one of the well-scrubbed Brut brigade I pulled in and opened the door. He was a friendly outgoing young chap. As we pulled away he heartily denounced the weather and acknowledged my kindness.
Then suddenly he lapsed into silence. I stole a quick glance at him. He was sniffing the air, eyes closed. The quizzical expression, the wrinkling of his nose, the flare of his nostrils could only mean one thing - he had smelt the smell ! I could smell nothing; but then he had been in the fresh air while I, by contrast, had been freshly delivered from slow suffocation. My vanity became uppermost : what if he thought I was the source of the odour ? I decided to take the bull by the horns. "Do you get a smell in the car ?", I asked. I was rehearsing my explanation while he continued to sniff, nodding his head.
Before I could launch into my story about the knight of the roads, I heard him say softly "Yes, I get a smell. Roses. I smell fresh roses."'
"Many people are 'with' the Lord,"
but few have
"His interests primarily at heart".
St. Bernard of Clairvaux.
"God does not bid you dance and sing / and laugh throughout each day / He bids you share another's load / and plod an uphill way / the wonder of His love is this / that those who tread the street / with Him, and serve their fellowmen / have wings upon their feet".
The Greatest evil
.Mother Theresa said:
"Many people to-day are starving for ordinary bread / but there is another kind of hunger / the hunger to be wanted / loved and recognised.
Nakedness too is not just the want of clothes / but also loss of dignity, purity, self-respect.
And homelessness is not just want of a house / there is the homelessness of being rejected / of being unwanted in a throw-away society.
The biggest disease in the world today is the feeling of being unwanted and uncared for.
The greatest evil in the world is lack of love / the terrible indifference towards one's neighbour."
Lord, warm our cold hearts with your grace, so that we may produce the fruits of love'.
Anita Kilbride-Jones,
St. Paul's Bay, Malta.
