I've had some interesting experiences (and blogs) about "picking up" the amphitheater the morning after a performance. Usually on Sunday morning, that task falls to Mike, who has other duties to perform and has the time to do the amphitheater while we are getting ready for church. Today was unusual, in that I had a call about 8:30 that a pair of diamond studs had been lost at the performance last night. As I was coming up the steps last night after the play, I did notice three people looking for something, but didn't stop to inquire or assist. Little did I know, until this morning that it was the diamond stud people. So out I went in search of the lost studs. Since I didn't know exactly where they had been seated, I guessed at the area and began picking up the usual trash but looked more closely for the studs. Two sweeps of the area yielded nothing more than candy wrappers, cups, napkins, a penny, tie wraps from popcorn bags, a plastic ring and assorted stuff, but no studs.
Suddenly, I heard some people at the top of the amphitheater heading down the stairs toward me. I figured it was the stud people, but it was not. They were there to look for a hearing aid they had lost last night. They knew exactly where they had been sitting and it turned out the "loser" was a Korean War veteran with a new hearing aid from the VA. When he was wrapping up in a blanket, the hearing aid had been pulled from his ear, and in the dark they were unable to find it. I had walked past that area in my search, but had not seen anything. The woman with the vet went right to the seat he had been sitting in and in a matter of seconds found the hearing aid. I had "missed it" in my search and felt bad that being so focused on every row and every object out of the ordinary, I had missed it. I had a brief discussion with the vet, telling him about our ministry to the Vietnam vets and thanked him for his service and his being at the Passion Play. I was thrilled they had found his hearing aid so easily, where I had failed. It was getting close to time to leave for church so I made one more quick search of the area, but didn't find the studs.
The message at church had nothing to do with diamond studs or hearing aids, but it did have a lot to say to me about needing a shepherd, being still in the busyness of life and being obedient to the calling of God on our life. I thought about the activities of the morning, about opening the chapel near the Christ of The Ozarks, visiting the Statue and taking a few pictures of Jesus in the early morning stillness. I thought about what had been lost yesterday, and what had been found today and what was more important. Without being judgmental about the loss of material things and their value, I was thrilled that I had witnessed ears which could hear again, and ear lobes that might not again be adorned with diamonds. I thought about the one of 100 sheep lost and then found and how that thrilled The Father. Maybe the diamonds were found last night, maybe Mike found them later this morning or I will find them Wednesday morning after the Tuesday play. Or maybe they are lost, never to be found. But for now, I am thrilled that one man again has ears to hear and was able to hear and appreciate (and enjoy) the message of the Passion Play. And let us all be thrilled that we have a Shepherd who leads us, a Holy Spirit who fills us, and a Father who loves us. How blessed we are. Thank You, Lord, for ears to hear even when we may have eyes that don't see everything we are looking for.
Sent from my iPad
No comments:
Post a Comment