Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren...

A few weeks ago, I played for the funeral of an older lady of our congregation. Today, I found a note in my church mailbox from her inseparable friend and companion, with a check for $25.

What should I do with this? I suspect that this lady can hardly spare $25. I could return it, with the observation that I was paid by the funeral home, but that would be an insult to her generosity. Yet, I cannot simply pocket the money. It is, in my view, a “widow's mite,” and of great value in the eyes of our Lord, so it must be used well.

On top of this, someone else whom I helped a little bit financially a few months ago has repaid the money in the form of a gift to the church, “to help the next person.” And all of this came on the day when the Gospel [St. Matthew 25:31-46] applies forcibly to such matters. What should I do?


Three answers to that question came my way this afternoon. After church, I was able to give a gentleman $10 to get a prescription filled for his wife. I did this grudgingly, for reasons I won't describe here, but thinking of that $25 dollars, I did it. “I was sick, and ye visited me not” is close enough to “I was sick and in need of medicine, and ye helped me not” to influence my actions.

Later in the day, another gentleman came by asking for $5 to get something to eat. Here again, I begrudged the gift, for the same gentleman came by last Sunday evening with the same request, and he could go to the Salvation Army for a free dinner, as I told him. Is he headed straight for the liquor store? Quite possibly. But I gave him the money and said a prayer with him. Fifteen dollars down, ten to go.

Not half an hour later, yet another gentleman came by, a young man. He had papers to show that he has just been released from the state prison in the next town. He had his final paycheck from the prison hospital where he was working as an inmate, but no one would cash it, because his only ID was his prison ID -- a perfectly fine photo ID, but not one that someplace like Wal-Mart or Target is going to honor. I gave him the remaining $10 plus a bit more, directed him to the Shelter House so that he has a roof over his head tonight, and suggested that he go get a proper ID from the DMV tomorrow, which he can do for $5. Then perhaps he can cash that paycheck and get started on a new life. We said some prayers to this effect; his manner of talking with our Lord suggested that he is not unfamiliar with prayer, so I was pleased to recognize him as a Brother.

I say none of this to claim any personal merit. But I say it to give witness to the strange and marvelous ways that the Lord works. Sequences of events such as these are too common in the Christian life to attribute to chance. If there is any merit, it belongs to the lady who remembers her dear friend, as do I.

May she rest in peace, and know that her works follow her in the life of her friend.
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Bach went fairly well. I was thoroughly prepared, and should have played it better, but I commit it into the hands of the Lord, mistakes and all; it certainly seemed to be the right music for this day's liturgy, and I gave it my best effort. With the fugue, part of the problem was that I got too emotionally caught up in it, along the lines of what I described in the previous essay, and my mistakes disfigured the most climactic moment of the piece. Psallam spiritu et mente. I must keep working on this. Emotion is good if it energizes the playing, but not so good if it leads to wrong notes.

What did go very well today was the communion improvisation at the contemporary service, and that was sheer gift, as improvisation always is, no matter how much one prepares and practices for it. Also, the hymns went well, as did the two choral pieces. Given a choice as to where the mistakes would be, I would be well content to have them in the voluntaries rather than the hymns and anthems.