A Great Kind of Faith

I’ll bet you, there is one in almost every church in the nation. It’s that one person that everybody else stares at because they are very different than everyone else. As much as you try not to have a prejudice against it, you find yourself focusing on the differences instead of noticing the person. It’s the reason we take a second look when somebody handicapped rolls by in the wheelchair, or exaggerate lip movements when talking to a deaf person who can read lips just fine if you talk normal.

I have one of those people that amazes me more and more every Sunday morning. A brain injury left her physical body nearly shut down. It seems to talk all of her concentration to move her hand off the armrest just to greet me with the same smile I get every week that she feels well enough to be at church. Her mind is still working perfectly, but the body is not willing to go. Sort of a “my spirit is willing but the flesh is so weak” coming to life.

Yet last Sunday, as I was singing the hymn on the stage, I heard something coming from the front row. She can’t hold a hymnal, but when it’s a song she remembers, you can’t stop her from singing out. Sure the words were about a line behind where I was, but it was filled with such passion. It was true, uninhibited worship, despite the circumstances.

I have to admit, there are times where I don’t think that I would have that same kind of spirit about me. I think to myself, “How can I not feel like praising Him today?” I need to take a life lesson from a wonderful lady living in a long-term care facility.