April 28, 2023
Friends,
“Let your light shine that those around you may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven.” (The words of Jesus as recorded in Matthew 5:16)
There isn’t a day that I don’t walk the hallways of Sea Island and I was doing so again a little while ago as some of our volunteers for the Safe Haven after-school tutoring ministry were arriving for a two and a half hour tutoring session conducted in the various rooms of our Christian education wing.
Something very special happened yesterday in one of the classrooms that I would like to share. There is a young student, I believe pre-kindergarten, who is as wide as he is tall. He is full of energy, usually has a big smile on his face, and always seems to be one step ahead of everyone around him. He’s a prankster. When you’re around him you have to be on your toes.
Several weeks ago we bumped into one another in the hallway when he pointed to me and said to his friends, “Pastor Steve is my granddaddy.” One of the kids said to me, “Are you really his granddaddy?” With a big smile on my face I said, “I sure am!” Thing is, my little buddy is black and I’m white. You should have seen the looks on the kid’s faces. They were befuddled.
Yesterday afternoon, I walked into one of the classrooms and there he was, my little buddy I say little, but he isn’t little. He looks like he could already wear shoulder pads and make his way to the line of scrimmage and pop somebody.
He ran to my side and said, “It sure is good to see you granddaddy.” Two young girls were standing nearby and looked absolutely perplexed. One of them said to the “little man,” “But you’re black and he’s white!” “Yes ma’am,” I said, “you’re right. He’s black and I’m white, but we’re all human and a part of the same big family.”
No sooner had I uttered these words when both girls, both black, put their arms around me, “We want you to be our granddaddy, too!” And Jesus said, “Blessed are the children, for such is the kingdom of heaven.”
It’s moments like these that I thank God for the ongoing gifts of time, energy, imagination, love, and intelligence given by so many in our congregation sharing the love and grace of Jesus Christ with children, tackling the never-ending physical needs of our church campus, spending the night for a cold weather shelter, rehearsing music for worship, cooking meals in the kitchen, gathering youth in a circle, teaching a class, providing hospitality in the Gathering Room, visiting the sick, delivering meals, calling no attention to yourselves, receiving no plagues of recognition, and no letters of appreciation, but doing what you do as a quiet Christian witness.
May the Lord bless and keep all of you as share in your own way when you can and how you can to make this a safer and more grace-filled world – where Christ-like love prevails – to the Glory of God and the sake of Jesus Christ. In your honor I sing, “Praise God from whom all blessings flow; praise him all creatures here below; praise him above, ye heavenly hosts; praise Father, Son, and Holy Ghost. Amen.” +
Looking Ahead
June 9 thru 17, Salkehatchie Summer Service, 54 registered high school and college campers will use our church campus as home base as they scatter in various groups around St. Helena Island and tackle a number of renovation and repair projects suggested by the Penn Center. We know that we will need help in the morning with breakfast and there will most assuredly be other opportunities for us to be involved. Can you imagine Methodist and Presbyterian Christians working together? Points of Contact: Dean and Jo Feaster, dean.feaster@gmail.com and/or feasteje@gmail.com.
