An Incredible Moment with a Bent-Over Woman

I have to admit, this is the first time I've run into this particular story. It was kind of fun to get to see one for the very first time with no pre-conceived notions already built up in my brain.

I think the best line (from a writer's standpoint anyway) was:

"Such an ironic picture. The sudden flexibility of the woman's physical posture juxtaposed to the rigidity of the religious leader's spiritual posture."

Ohhh...that's good!

But right below it was my moment to agree with Gire when he writes:

"Why is it that so often the most religious are the most resistant to the power of God? Is their theology so neatly boxed that there is no room for miracles? Is their order of service so structured that there is no room to be surprised by the spontaneity of a supernatural God?"

Ya gotta know I had a nice little chuckle after reading that one. :-)

But, of course, it was the prayer that stirred up all the emotion in me. Ii never used to understand why it was so all fire important for someone to dress up my grandmother, load her into her wheel chair and go to all the trouble to drive her to church so she could sit and stare at things. I really didn't get it.

I get it now.

I thirst to be in church so much that sometimes I want to just go and sit in the empty auditorium just to be inside His house. I'm overjoyed on the weeks when we have a mid-week service because it means I don't have to go a whole week to be back in that building with those people and that music. I crave it now. And now I understand why it was so important to my grandmother as well as all the other older and/or infirmed people that attend my church services. Now I see how they must struggle to bathe, to get dressed, to get someone to take them...now I see. Now I know. Now I understand.

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Okay, time to give you all a good laugh...

Yesterday at church, Pastor actually quoted from my Stations of the Cross writings in his sermon. It was from the one where I wrote:

Every Christian asks the question and every Christian makes a choice. Was He who He said He was? Did this happen as they say? Did God take on the form of man and come to live among us? Did He purchase our salvation with His blood? Did He atone for all our sin through his death upon the cross? Did he rise up from the grave?

Then he said "A very wise woman once wrote:"

"We need to understand that asking all these questions does not make us skeptics – instead, they are what makes us into Christians, for no where else does our faith matter more than at this exact point in time – this one day in history. Will we search our hearts and say, “I do believe” or will we turn away in ridicule and say, “It couldn’t be?”"

Yep. That would be me. Me - the "wise woman." I almost laughed right out loud in front of a packed house when he said that! To keep from giggling, I had to make smiley faces all over my program so I could at least giggle on the outside! Too funny. Me...wise. I've been called a LOT of things in my day but to have a pastor refer to me as WISE? Well, that was priceless!

And, in case you're wondering why he didn't refer to me by name - why I got called "wise woman" - it's because we have an agreement between the two of us. He can use any material I write in any of his sermons or classes but he can't say who "HeyJules" really is. If people find out about my website or they find out I am the one that writes it, that's fine...one by one. But I do not want to be "the girl that writes that website" at church. I just want to be me when I'm there. Hence, today, I became "wise woman." Oh, I'm still cracking up about the whole thing! Once his sermon gets posted on the internet, I'll link you to it so you can have a good laugh as well.

And, before you go giving me a hard time about me not thinking I am wise...just put yourself in my shoes and imagine that you've been coming to church for less than a year and your Pastor is calling you a WISE WOMAN in front of a packed house of Christians. Go ahead...I'll wait...yeah, see my point? It is pretty ironic. I'm probably one of the newest people at the church today and I got called wise! ***runs off giggling***