Simple yet Profound (Lesson #6)

Thank you for the many ways you have responded to the first 4 of my "Top Ten Faith Lessons."  I've had people e-mail with their own stories, tell me that I made them ponder their faith and church throughout the week, and just give me hugs.  I'm glad my stories are helping you to reflect on your faith journey. For today, here is Lesson #6 with two stories: one general and one from Camp Rainbow Connection, which is where I've learned this lesson best.

The simplest understanding of faith is often the most profound.

There is story I love to share of a man attending services at a large church.  He was never involved in anything even though he was there almost every week.  One Sunday, the minister came up to him after the service and told the man he had a job he’d like for him to consider.  The request was to take over the 3 & 4 year old choir which was made up of about 20 children.  Well, the guy played the piano and liked working with children so he said yes.  He also took the job out of a little guilt because he said his first thought was actually that he’d never done anything for the church.

As part of their fist Sunday morning presentation, the children were learning to make a church with their hands.  You remember doing that… “Here is the church, here is the steeple….” After struggling to get their hands and fingers in the right places, the little ones finally seemed to be ready.  What the new director did not anticipate, however, were the guests that would be invited to church that day.  Suddenly, when the 3 & 4 years olds were called to the front, their ranks swelled to close to 30.  Nothing could have prepared this man for the extra children just when he finally thought his “regulars” had their act together.

In his most fatherly tone, he quietly asked them to build the church with their hands so they could start the song.  As he looked across the line of children, he saw a few of the visitors having a little difficulty getting their fingers in the right places.  Then he saw one little girl on the very end of the row who did not have the church together at all.  He leaned forward, looked in her direction and again encouraged her to build the church.  Tears began to form in her eyes and trickle down her cheeks.  As the director began to move toward the small girl, he was finally able to see that one of her arms had been amputated near the elbow.  At the same time, a little boy standing on the opposite side of her, pulled his hands apart, took the little girl’s hand and proudly said, “Give me your hand.  We’ll make the church together.”

A simple understanding of what it means to be church – to grab hands and build the church together.  

Aubrey, Ellen, and Cindy were among the 61 youth and adults with intellectual disabilities that spent a week with at Camp Rainbow Connection in August of 2011.  In Bible class on the first day of camp, the campers were talking about wisdom. The Bible verse for the day was verse James 3:13.  In The Message, that verse reads:  “Do you want to be counted wise, to build a reputation for wisdom? Here's what you do: Live well, live wisely, live humbly. It's the way you live, not the way you talk, that counts.”

As the group discussed what it means to be wise, they talked about having the Bible as a guide book.  Aubrey raised his hand and said he had a question.  He didn’t really have a question, but a statement – a powerful statement. Aubrey stood up, began pointing to his palms, and said: “Jesus died on a cross, nails in his hands, nails in his hands.  And when he died, he got in our hearts .  And he loves everybody, everybody.”

Ellen stood up and added: “Yeah, he died for us.” Cindy, who normally says very little, then stood and followed with: “He died so we could love everybody, not hate anybody, but love everybody.”

Talk about wise! This was a demonstration of wisdom so simple, yet so profound, from 3 people who would be looked at by much of society as not being capable of understanding the concepts of faith, 3 people who are often overlooked or passed by because people see their disabilities rather than their gifts.  

The simplest understanding of faith is often the most profound.