A Welcoming Heart
“Here I am! I stand at the door
and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat
with him, and he with me.” *
Someone expressed
a greeting at church several weeks ago that has been stuck in the replay mode
of my mind. Rather than an annoyance though, it has been the cause of
reflection—on being more aware of those around me and also on the presence of
God in my life.
After the service,
a person whom I did not know was standing near the door getting ready to leave.
When I introduced myself, he told me his name, smiled and then said something
very out of the ordinary: “Welcome to my consciousness!”
“Well… thank you,”
I said not knowing how to respond. It was nice that he was welcoming me into
his world, even if only briefly. We were two strangers traveling on different
paths whose lives had intersected in church, neither conscious of the other
before that brief moment of time.
“Welcome to my consciousness.” Those words
just wouldn’t go away. How many people did I encounter throughout the course of
each day who had my full attention, even if only for a short time?
While sitting in
the waiting room at an Urgent Care last week, I decided to keep the cell phone
in my purse so that I could concentrate on the people sitting in the chairs
scattered around the room. Plexiglass panes separated the groups of chairs and
there was little talking among the masked individuals.
They all had needs of one sort or another:
physical exams for school, COVID tests, back pain… There was plenty of time to
pray and the needs were great.
A few minutes
later a woman came through the door with two girls following close behind. The
girls appeared to be identical twins in their preteen years.
After checking in,
they looked for a place to sit down; however, there weren’t three open seats
together. It was a very busy morning and the place was crowded. Since there
were two empty chairs next to me, I got up and moved to another section so that
the family could sit down. The mother was grateful.
While she was busy
filling out papers in the end chair, the girls thumb-wrestled with each other, causing
quite a ruckus. Each accused the other of cheating, with pokes and punches. Everyone else seemed to ignore them; but they
had my full attention.
Their behavior
became more annoying as the minutes slowly ticked by until I felt like I
couldn’t stand it any longer. The teacher in me wanted to holler, “Hey, knock
that off!”
About that time,
their mom finished her paperwork and turned her attention to the girls. She
spoke with a low sweet voice, listening first to the tattling of one and then
to the tattling of the other. Her reaction? She put her arms around the girl
closest to her for a few minutes, before saying “Switch!” When the two girls switched seats, she put her
arms around the second child.
What a good mom!
It was obvious that she loved and cared for her girls. A silent peace treaty
immediately replaced the skirmish that had existed previously. It was still a
relief when my name was finally called to go into one of the rooms.
Immediately the
focus was shifted back to my world and to the staff that interacted with me.
The mother and daughters drifted off to the far corners of my mind, that is
until on the way out of the building. The three of them were still sitting
quietly, huddled close together, waiting for their turn. It was a long time to
wait, especially for energetic youngsters.
Did I pray for
them? Yes, but I have to confess, my attitude towards them was less than
welcoming. It was tempting to ignore them altogether. Oh my!
In the verse
above, Jesus is calling us to be aware of His presence day by day, moment by
moment. “Here I am!” He stands at the door of our hearts knocking, waiting
until we open the door and welcome Him in.
Are we willing to respond to His knocking? The
One who knows us better than anyone else, who has a good plan for each of us,
who loves us and laid down His life for us is waiting!
(Picture from Pinterest)
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