Feeding One Another

           Rosie and I do meals-on-wheels every week.  It is a time to connect with some wonderful people whom we wouldn’t otherwise know.  We don’t do much, except take them their meal for the day and have some conversation with them.

            One of the people on our route had two dogs who barked whenever I would ring the doorbell.  One of them died and the other kept up the routine of barking at me whenever I came with the meal for the day.  Last week, when I rang the bell, there was no answering bark.  When our client came to the door she told me that her second dog had also died.  She was in tears over her grief.  We have lost dogs also, so I knew how she felt.  She had no one else in her house, so she was lonely without her pet. 

            Without our contact, I don’t know who might have heard about this woman’s loss.  It just brings home to me how meaningful this kind of routine effort can be in people’s lives.  I’ve always thought that one of the main reasons for meals-on-wheels is the contact, to make sure that these people are all right.  It is a wonderful way for all of us as a community to keep track of each other.  

            I know that talking about the loss of her dog helped that woman to get through her day.  It seems like a little thing, but community is never a little thing.  It is important for all of us to see and talk with one another.  It keeps us whole.

            I’ve always loved the thirteenth chapter of Paul’s first letter to the people in Corinth.  His essay about love is deeply touching.  No wonder that brides and grooms want is read at their weddings.  Paul tells us that no matter what else we do or have in our lives, without Love there is no meaning.  That certainly sums up the Gospel of Christ as well as I think it can be done.  We are called to love one another in the same way that we love the Lord our God.  When we do that, miracles occur.  We comfort and we offer companionship to each other in our daily walk.  There isn’t much that is more important than that.

            I have been fed by the people on our route more often that I have fed them.  Even though we carry the meals to them, the conversation that we have with them feeds us.  We’ve done this ministry both here and also in West Virginia, where we lived before.  I know what a great thing it is not only for the clients on the route, but also for those who carry the meals.