Here is a
fabulous story about a lonely couple separated by the greatest evils
(i.e., the Nazis), each unaware of the other’s fate, was brought together
again in the holiest of holidays. The key to their reunion is an
ordinary object that no one else valued. This makes us understand that
things happen for a reason; that God certainly works in many mysterious
ways. So when the road we’re traveling seems difficult at best, have
faith and just remember God will do the rest.
The story
was
written by the Rev. Howard C. Schade, pastor of the First Reformed
Church in Nyack, New York. It was published in the December 1954 issue
of Reader’s Digest and it was anthologized in Alice Gray’s Christmas
Stories for the Heart in 1998.
The brand new
pastor and his wife, newly assigned to their first ministry, to reopen a
church in suburban Brooklyn, arrived in early October excited about
their opportunities. When they saw their church, it was very run down
and needed much work. They set a goal to have everything done in time to
have their first service on Christmas Eve.
They worked hard, repairing pews, plastering walls, painting, etc, and
on December 18 were ahead of schedule and just about finished.
On December 19 a terrible tempest - a driving rainstorm hit the area and
lasted for two days.
On the 21st, the pastor went over to the church. His heart sank when he
saw that the roof had leaked, causing a large area of plaster about 20
feet by 8 feet to fall off the front wall of the sanctuary just behind
the pulpit, beginning about head high.
The pastor cleaned up the mess on the floor, and not knowing what else
to do but postpone the Christmas Eve service, headed home. On the way he
noticed that a local business was having a flea market type sale for
charity, so he stopped in. One of the items was a beautiful, handmade,
crocheted tablecloth with exquisite work, fine colors and
a Cross embroidered right in the center. It was just the right size to
cover the hole in the front
wall. He bought it and headed back to the church.
By this time it had started to snow. An older woman running from the
opposite direction was trying to catch the bus. She missed it. The
pastor invited her to wait in the warm church for the next bus 45
minutes later.
She sat in a pew and paid no attention to the pastor while he got a
ladder, hangers, etc., to put up the tablecloth as a wall tapestry. The
pastor could hardly believe how beautiful it looked and it covered up
the entire problem area.
When we pray,
God
hears more than we say, answers more than we ask, gives more
than we imagine in his own time and in his own way. |
Then he noticed the woman walking down the center aisle. Her face was
like a sheet. "Pastor," she asked, "where did you get that tablecloth?"
The pastor explained. The woman asked him to check the lower right
corner to see if the initials, EBG were crocheted into it there. They
were. These were the initials of the woman, and she had
made this tablecloth 35 years before, in Austria.
The woman could hardly believe it as the pastor told how he had just
gotten "The Tablecloth". The woman explained that before the war she and
her husband were well-to-do people in Austria.
When the Nazis came, she was forced to leave. Her husband was going to
follow her the next week. He was captured, sent to prison and never saw
her husband nor her home again.
The pastor wanted to give her the tablecloth; but she made the pastor
keep it for the church. The pastor insisted on driving her home. That
was the least he could do. She lived on the other side of Staten Island
and was only in Brooklyn for the day for a housecleaning job.
What a wonderful service they had on Christmas Eve. The church was
almost full. The music and the spirit were great. At the end of the
service, the pastor and his wife greeted everyone at the door and many
said that they would return.
One older man, whom the pastor recognized from the neighborhood
continued to sit in one of the pews and stare, and the pastor wondered
why he wasn't leaving.
Though we
can’t always see it at the time,
if we look upon events with some
perspective, we see things always happen for our best interests. We are
always being guided in a way better than we know ourselves. ~Swami
Satchidanand |
The man asked him where he got the tablecloth on the front wall because
it was identical to one that his wife had made years ago when they lived
in Austria before the war and how could there be two tablecloths so much
alike.
He told the pastor how the Nazis came, how he forced his wife to flee
for her safety and he was supposed to follow her, but he was arrested
and put in a prison. He never saw his wife nor his home again all the 35
years between.
The pastor asked him if he would allow him to take him for a little
ride. They drove to Staten Island and to the same house where the pastor
had taken the woman three days earlier.
He helped
the man climb the three flights of stairs to the woman's apartment,
knocked on the door and he saw the greatest Christmas reunion he could
ever imagine.
God always
has something for us. A key for every problem, a light for
every shadow, a relief for every sorrow and a plan for every
tomorrow. He truly works in many mysterious ways.
By Tim Pedrosa
Though we can’t always see it at the time, if we
look upon events with some perspective, we see things always
happen for our best interests. We are always being guided in a
way better than we know ourselves. ~Swami
Satchidanand |