“The Window”

An anonymous story that I came across tells of two men who were seriously ill and shared a hospital room. Both men had to lie flat on their backs, except one man, the one nearer the window was allowed to sit up for one hour a day to take his medicine. This one hour would be an important one for the man who had to remain flat on his back.

For that hour the man would describe what he saw out the hospital window. He described the park across the street from the hospital and the people he would see strolling along. He would talk about the weather and the man who fed the birds every day about that time. That man came every day, rain or shine. There were children playing and young couples hand in hand ambling along the paths.

One day, it must have been a holiday, there was some special parade. The man described in detail what he saw below. The man on his back lived for this hour, the hour of the day when, though flat on his back, he could become free through the vision of the man near the window.

One morning the nurse came in to give the men their medicine and found the man near the window lying lifeless, but peaceful in his bed. It was sad, but mostly for the man on his back, since his eyes to the world had left. When he felt it was appropriate, he asked the nurse for the bed next to the window.

The nurse obliged moving the man to the other side of the room. Slowly the man began to prop himself up to get a glimpse of the park across the street and the people he had grown to love day by day as he lay on his back. As the man peered through the window glass he did not see the park, but only a brick wall. Disappointed, he rang for the nurse and asked why she thought the man had told so many stories when all he saw was a wall. “Maybe he just wanted to encourage you,” she said softly.

Encouragement is taking joy in making other people feel good about themselves. It is making others happy or at least happier by helping them think of brighter things outside their world of pain, sorrow, or depression. People need affirmation. They need someone to give them hope. They need someone to pump them up when they are down and sometimes even carry them.

It’s become popular at high school football games when it gets to the fourth quarter for the bands to play and the fans are holding up four fingers, signifying that it’s at the end and encouraging to either stay ahead or make a comeback that wins the game. The cheers of the crowd become louder; the bands play more, and teams get fired up as everyone encourages their boys to win. It’s the fourth quarter!

Many people get discouraged not only because of the situation but because they feel nobody cares. They feel they are tackling their problems alone. They struggle through life feeling lost and alone. They don’t have cheerleaders and fans who they can see cheering them on. They can only hear the voices in their head reminding them of the struggles they face.

It doesn’t take much to encourage people. It costs nothing to lift someone up who has found themselves down. Words of encouragement and embracements of love go a long way in building up an individual. Simple words, freely given can do so much to lift a person’s spirit and help them through some tough times. Every person we meet each and every day can use kind, simple words telling them they are doing a good job and that what they do is appreciated. Words of encouragement tell people, “You matter” and “You are important.”

Let us all take the time to encourage one another. Let us all build others up. Let us all let the people we meet know that we care for them. Let us all brighten the day of someone who is on their back, down and out. Let’s tell them about the park and the people we see. Let’s describe the parade passing by the window.

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Carry each other’s burdens, and in this way you will fulfill the law of Christ.

Galatians 6:2

“The 51 Mile Journey”

The journey between the Pennsylvanian towns of Ephrata and Valley Forge is a distance of 51 miles. By today’s standards, this is a trip of less than an hour’s drive. For Peter Miller of Ephrata, it would take a little longer since he would walk the distance. It was a journey he didn’t have to take, and no one would blame him for not going, but as he set out on foot that day in the year 1775, it was a journey he felt compelled to take.

          The story begins much earlier when Miller was the pastor for the Reformed Church in Goshenhoppen, Germantown. Peter had begun to rebel against the ways of the Reformed Church to the point that he was relieved as minister and a man named Michael Wideman replaced Miller as the new pastor. Wideman hated Miller. History says that he would spit in his face, trip him along the road and even supposedly at one time, punched the quiet, humble man of God.

          Unlike Miller, Wideman was not a strong patriot to the colonial cause. Neither was he overly fond of the British. He ran a tavern on the side and during a time when British General Howe’s troops were bedding there, they overheard some unkindly remarks about the General. The British soldiers tried to seize him, but he was able to escape through a window. He later sent word that he’d like to speak to Howe with the intention to apologize, even offering every service against the colonies he could think of to the British. Howe accepted his request to meet, but when he found out, he had made certain unkindly remarks, threw him out of the British camp.

          Shortly after that, Wideman was arrested by some of General George Washington’s men and brought to the general. He was court-martialed, convicted of treason and his property seized. There was no one willing to stand up for the man who had attempted to betray his country.

          Peter Miller had walked the 51 miles to see his friend George Washington concerning the fate of Wideman. Miller pleaded on Wideman’s behalf. Washington was unimpressed with his friends plea, feeling that Miller was only trying to spare the life of his friend, Wideman. Contrarily, Washington found out that Wideman was not a friend, but Miller’s “worst enemy,” one who had treated him with continual disrespect. Miller, however, had asked himself what Jesus would have done in this case. As a result of wrestling with this question he had walked the 51 miles to stand up for his “worst enemy.”

          Washington was impressed with what Miller had done and pardoned Wideman. The two men who had been enemies returned on the road back to Ephrata, not as enemies, but as friends. Many believe that  Washington, moved by Peter Miller’s actions, many times in the future showed the same grace in pardoning others.

          How far would we walk to save our worst enemy? How far would we walk to show mercy and forgiveness to someone who is undeserving? I venture to say that most of the time we sit back and just see what happens and not interfere. If we looked closely how much of Peter Miller would see in ourselves?

          Reconciliation with those we have been crossways with is one of the hardest Christian qualities to achieve. Sometimes our pride steps in the way of reaching out. Other times it’s our lack of desire to take that first step to bring us back together. Sometimes instead of standing up, we may find ourselves step back and watch as “our enemy” receives what we feel is his or her due and just reward for how they treated us and others.

          People will look at us as leaders to see how we handle all types of situations. How will we handle it when someone is against us? Will we get angry? Will we ridicule them? Will we treat them with disrespect? Where will our feet lead us on this journey of reconciliation?

          A friend once made the statement several years ago, “People are watching our feet!”. In other words, they want to see where we are going, how we are living, what journey are we traveling to be like Jesus? They are watching our feet, looking for footsteps to follow.

          Maybe this one act by Peter Miller, a man who journeyed to meet Washington and free his enemy had an impact on things he said later. Washington the following year makes the following statement:

Treat them with humanity, and let them have no reason to complain of our copying the brutal example of the British Army in their treatment of our unfortunate brethren who have fallen into their hands.
— George Washington, 1776

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All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation: that God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting people’s sins against them. And he has committed to us the message of reconciliation. We are therefore Christ’s ambassadors, as though God were making his appeal through us. We implore you on Christ’s behalf: Be reconciled to God.

2 Corinthians 5:18-20