Empty Boxes
By Belinda
I arrived at a home that I had not been to before, for a meeting last week. Even as I approached the front door, there was a sense of neatness, order and beauty. Inside, the warm welcome of the inhabitants was echoed by the home, as it wrapped itself around me with the warmth of the colours on the walls, and the atmosphere of comfort and hosptitality.
Before the four of us started our discussion on the topic of the meeting, the two other women mentioned being regular readers of this blog. I felt humbled and a little embarrassed. It is a great honour that anyone chooses to read here but I was caught off guard when I thought about how "off the cuff" some of my writing can be.
This was further reinforced when one of the women referred to my post of a couple of weeks ago about the church business meeting, and my (backfiring) attempt at humour. In my determination not to be stereotyped as a lover of Gaither music just because I am over 50, I had managed to do the thing that I was resisting for myself--I stereotyped lovers of the Gaithers!
The woman sitting across from me laughed as she mentioned that her dear late husband had been a "Gaitherite" and that his final revenge on a younger member of their family, had been to have her sing,
I’m Free at his funeral.
Her words fell like a gentle rebuke, although she did not intend them to. How little I had considered the reach of my words. She promised to send me a relevant poem that her Aunt Erma Davision had written, which was published in To a World, with Love by the Bible Christian Union (79.) With her permission, I share it here as the message is so true and one that I need reminding of (occasionally! :)) Thank you Paula!
I arrived at a home that I had not been to before, for a meeting last week. Even as I approached the front door, there was a sense of neatness, order and beauty. Inside, the warm welcome of the inhabitants was echoed by the home, as it wrapped itself around me with the warmth of the colours on the walls, and the atmosphere of comfort and hosptitality.
Before the four of us started our discussion on the topic of the meeting, the two other women mentioned being regular readers of this blog. I felt humbled and a little embarrassed. It is a great honour that anyone chooses to read here but I was caught off guard when I thought about how "off the cuff" some of my writing can be.
This was further reinforced when one of the women referred to my post of a couple of weeks ago about the church business meeting, and my (backfiring) attempt at humour. In my determination not to be stereotyped as a lover of Gaither music just because I am over 50, I had managed to do the thing that I was resisting for myself--I stereotyped lovers of the Gaithers!
The woman sitting across from me laughed as she mentioned that her dear late husband had been a "Gaitherite" and that his final revenge on a younger member of their family, had been to have her sing,
I’m Free at his funeral.
Her words fell like a gentle rebuke, although she did not intend them to. How little I had considered the reach of my words. She promised to send me a relevant poem that her Aunt Erma Davision had written, which was published in To a World, with Love by the Bible Christian Union (79.) With her permission, I share it here as the message is so true and one that I need reminding of (occasionally! :)) Thank you Paula!
Empty Boxes
Father
help me to not
put people
in boxes
labelled
*"worldly"
"unspiritual"
"liberal"
"gaitherite"
What's the use?
they keep escaping
my self-made cubicles
and I'm stuck
with all these
empty boxes!
*Please insert your own labels
Blessings to you on this good day of empty boxes. :)
Comments
And Marion, thank you. I truly am humbled and honoured both by your comment and by the "stereotype!" :)