Tuesday, August 31, 2010

My favorite reading this month

Some old men came to see Abba Poemen and said to him, 'We see some of the brothers falling asleep during divine worship. Should we wake them up?' He said, 'As for me, when I see a brother who is falling asleep during the Office, I lay his head on my knees and let him rest.' (Poemen 92)

My dad would not miss church for anything. Right or wrong, in his own way he was faithful to the Lord and to his church. For a decade or so dad worked nights at the steel mill. When those nights happened on Saturday to Sunday morning he cleaned up and came to church directly from the mill.

Dad also loved to sing in the choir. He perched in his chair with a childlike joy born of simple participation. He sang with all his heart. But when the singing was done and the talking begun, his head started bobbing and jerking until he finally drooped in a rather lumpy, propped up, full body snooze. I was always amused.

There are several ways to judge a man who falls asleep in the third chair from the right in the choir loft behind the pulpit. As for me, I think it is one of the finest things my father did.

We are human. God forgive us for despising our humanity. I want the responses of my older years to be like those of Abba Poemen. When weariness overcomes you in the wrong place I will cover you with my cloak. At my funeral I want this to be the story that is told of me.

5 comments:

Lee Ann said...

My grandmother is 95. When she isn't well, of course she wants to sleep. My Aunt, who wants her mother to live forever, has all these crazy ideas about how to keep her better, but they don't include letting her nap. If I am alone with Grandma, I put her to bed and climb in with her. Her mental faculties are weak, but when I do that her body knows who I am.

Michel Le said...

I think both stories in your post are examples of God's love and of Christlikeness. Thanks so much for sharing these stories and giving us readers the opportunity to reflect on what is appropriate at church...I have a feeling God would say it is something very different than what most of us think.

comfortandjoy said...

Marilyn,

When I speak of you, that's the story I tell.

I know I'm not the only one...

comfortandjoy said...
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keith jagger said...

Smiling. I hope to be able to have comfortable knees someday for some young and tired soul...