CHECKING IN TODAY
Date: Saturday, May 25 @ 09:31:00 CDT Topic: Religion
A really neat poem with a message, supplied to me by my dear Aunt Priscilla Coulson in Tulsa, Oklahoma. She didn't tell me who the author might have been, but I'm sure he or she wouldn't mind my sharing it with you. Enjoy.
A minister passing through his church in
the middle of the day, Decided to pause by the altar and
see who had come to pray. Just then the back door opened,
a man came down the aisle, The minister frowned as he saw
the man hadn't shaved in a while.
His shirt was kinda
shabby and his coat was worn and frayed, the man knelt, he
bowed his head, then rose and walked away. In the days that
followed, each noon time came this chap, each time he knelt
just for a moment, a lunch pail in his lap.
Well, the
minister's suspicions grew, with robbery a main fear, He
decided to stop the man and ask him, "What are you doing
here?" The old man said, he worked down the road. Lunch was
half an hour. Lunchtime was his prayer time, for finding
strength and power.
"I stay only moments, see, because
the factory is so far away; as I kneel here talking to the
Lord, this is kinda what I say:
"I JUST CAME AGAIN TO
TELL YOU, LORD, HOW HAPPY I'VE BEEN, SINCE WE FOUND EACH
OTHER'S FRIENDSHIP AND YOU TOOK AWAY MY SIN. DON'T KNOW
MUCH OF HOW TO PRAY, BUT I THINK ABOUT YOU EVERYDAY. SO,
JESUS, THIS IS JIM CHECKING IN TODAY."
The minister
feeling foolish, told Jim, that was fine. He told the man
he was welcome to come and pray just anytime. Time to go,
Jim smiled, said "Thanks." He hurried to the door. The
minister knelt at the altar, he'd never done it
before.
His cold heart melted, warmed with love, and
met with Jesus there. As the tears flowed, in his heart, he
repeated old Jim's prayer:
"I JUST CAME AGAIN TO TELL
YOU, LORD, HOW HAPPY I'VE BEEN, SINCE WE FOUND EACH OTHER'S
FRIENDSHIP AND YOU TOOK AWAY MY SIN. I DON'T KNOW MUCH OF
HOW TO PRAY, BUT I THINK ABOUT YOU EVERYDAY. SO, JESUS,
THIS IS ME CHECKING IN TODAY."
Past noon one day, the
minister noticed that old Jim hadn't come. As more days
passed without Jim, he began to worry some. At the factory,
he asked about him, learning he was ill. The hospital staff
was worried, but he'd given them a thrill.
The week
that Jim was with them, brought changes in the ward. His
smiles, a joy contagious. Changed people, were his
reward. The head nurse couldn't understand why Jim was so
glad, when no flowers, calls or cards came, not a visitor
he had.
The minister stayed by his bed, he voiced the
nurse's concern: No friends came to show they cared. He had
nowhere to turn. Looking surprised, old Jim spoke up and
with a winsome smile; "the nurse is wrong, she couldn't
know, that in here all the while
Everyday at noon He's
here, a dear friend of mine, you see, He sits right down,
takes my hand, leans over and says to me:
"I JUST CAME
AGAIN TO TELL YOU, JIM, HOW HAPPY I HAVE BEEN, SINCE WE
FOUND THIS FRIENDSHIP, AND I TOOK AWAY YOUR SIN. ALWAYS
LOVE TO HEAR YOU PRAY, I THINK ABOUT YOU EACH DAY, AND SO
JIM, THIS IS JESUS CHECKING IN
TODAY."
|
|