LITTLE CHRISTS [Sun, 3-2-25[

BEYOND WINTER: The Musings of An Old Man—LITTLE CHRISTS [Sun, 3-2-25[

 

My college and seminary friend, Bob Parsons, did a whole clergy career on the Texas plains. Sometimes he would need to call on a family that lived fifty or so miles away. They were folks who had been Methodists for generations, but as rural populations declined, their local church had closed, and so now they were his parishioners, even though so far away, because he pastored the closest Methodist congregation.

The directions to find those sorts of folks were always interesting, and challenging. “Go out north of town on Dry Creek Road for about five miles. You’ll see two silos at Butch Thompson’s place. Take the first gravel road to the right and go past two cattle guards. When the gravel ends, go another two miles…” Well, you get the idea. Half-way there!

I recall that in those situations, when I was trying to find a remote home that didn’t have a street address, people often gave directions that made no sense to me, because they used landmarks that no longer existed. “Go to where the Western Auto store was before it burned…

Bob said he never minded making those calls, even though the route to get there was confusing, and it was a long way, and took a lot of time, because the folks at the end of that trip were so glad to see him. I felt the same way.

Pastors and doctors and first responders have an automatic welcome. People are glad to see us. Well, not always. Not exactly. I had a friend who had heart problems and relationship problems. Once when I went to see him, he said, “I’m always glad when you come, but every time you do, it means I’m in trouble.”

You don’t need official status to make things better by your presence. My college roommate was not churchly. He respected my faith attempts, and we remained best friends throughout his life, but he was never much interested in religion. He passed that lack of interest on to his children. When he suffered a stroke, Helen and I found out about it and drove the necessary miles to the hospital. His son said later, “We were all so confused and worried, but when you walked in, suddenly it seemed like everything would be okay.”

C.S. Lewis, in his famous Mere Christianity, says that we are to be little Christs to one another, doorways to God, to the eternal.

Some of us have the “little Christ” designation just because it is part of our professional or social identity, but it is meant for each person, a real possibility and calling for each person.

One of my favorite stories is about a missionary in Africa. One morning, a student presented her with an exquisitely carved statue. She knew that people in his village excelled in such carvings, but that the village was many miles away, and he had no transportation. “You must have walked such a long way to get this for me,” she exclaimed. “Long walk is part of gift,” he said.

John Robert McFarland