Thankful Response

Life had started to get hard for Joan.  Now in her mid-seventies, she found more and more that she couldn’t do for herself, and it was sometimes quite painful even to walk to the corner shop.  She was very glad to have almost daily visits from Pina.  Pina had arrived in the town several years ago from the Balkans.  Her husband had been killed in the fighting there, and she had sought safety with her two young children.

Pina enjoyed calling on Joan, and would dust and hoover, collect shopping for her, make tea and chat, and she learned much about her adopted country in the process.  Her presence in the house lightened the lonely burden of Joan’s life beyond measure.  Then one day Joan discovered that, in order to make time for these visits, Pina had stopped going to a special class where she had been learning business English and computer skills so that, when the children were old enough, she could get herself a job.

Joan didn’t know how to deal with this news.  She couldn’t understand why Pina should make that sacrifice just to spend time with her.  After all, they had little in common except widowhood, and the circumstances of that condition were totally different for each of them.  Pina occasionally noticed a little awkwardness in Joan’s behaviour that she couldn’t account for.  Joan was far more worried about the situation than this little sign revealed.  Then one day she remembered some clothes that were stored away having been outgrown by her grandchildren.  She passed them to Pina for her youngest.  Although she couldn’t get around very well, Joan still enjoyed cooking, and made all her own cakes.  It was about then that, inspired by Pina’s gratitude for the clothes, she began to make larger batches of buns and biscuits, packing up more than half of them into bags which she passed on to her young friend when she called.

This sort of exchange probably happens here and there across most towns.  Is it just a story of two lonely women, or can we learn something more from it?  Pina gave up something which was important to her in order to provide a lifeline to someone to whom she owed nothing.  From the Manger to the Cross, God did the same for us.  He gave His only-begotten Son to save us from the consequences of our sins.  For her part Joan thought it out and, although she couldn’t replace those lost lessons, by practical gifts she found a way to respond to Pina’s generosity.  We can never hope to deserve God’s love or to repay the sacrifice of the Cross, but we are prompted to respond to these blessings.  We do so by giving our time and skills in service to God through the Church or other charities.  Many people also give a proportion of their income as well - based on the Biblical practice of tithing (see Deuteronomy 14:22).  The Church has a ‘shorthand’ name for this response to God by giving our time, talents and treasure: Stewardship.

When did you last review your response to what God has given you?