One at a Time

Yesterday we reflected on a passage in the Gospel of John (12:1-8) where Mary anoints Jesus’ feet with oil.

Several years ago an elder in our church, Sharon Hartsell was in a High School auditorium for an end-of-year banquet. A student she was mentoring had won a Character Counts award. But what was unique about the situation was that this young woman was practically homeless. And you know, in that situation, it is a minor miracle that she would earn an award like this. It was a big deal. 

When they called each student on stage to receive their award, they were allowed to have a parent or grandparent up with them, someone who had inspired them.  When this young woman was called to come up, she stood at the podium and said, I didn’t have a parent to bring with me, so I invited my mentor Miss Sharon. She’s made all the difference. 

As they were walking off the stage together, the Superintendent of Schools, touched Sharon on the arm and leaned over and whispered, “We save one at a time…” We save one at a time.

Writing about this passage, author and scholar Ronald Rolheiser says: “Any one of us who visits a sick or (hurting) person, regardless of how inadequate and stuttering our actual words might be, anoints that person, just as a priest does in the sacrament of the sick. To touch a sick person’s hand or to speak words of affection or consolation to a (person in need), in its own way, does what Mary did for Jesus.

Who’s standing in front of you in this given moment? The aging parent with increasing needs… a troubled teenager… the struggling coworker… the grieving neighbor, the woman in the grocery store line speaking a language you don’t understand…

Sometimes it can be as simple as eye contact and a smile. Sometimes it’s simply anointing someone with your presence, and your attention. Sometimes a few simple words are all that’s needed: How are you, really? Tell me more. How can I be praying for you? 

It is true, what the superintendent said: We save one a time.  

Let us pray: Gracious God, give us eyes to see the need of the person right in front of us – perhaps even as close as our own kitchen table. May we care as you care; in Jesus’ name. Amen.