New Year

I have a friend named Jon whose grandmother passed away several years ago.  After she passed, his grandfather invited Jon and his wife Mary to the home his grandparents had shared for nearly 70 years.  Up in the attic were some dishes his grandmother had packed away, and his grandfather thought that Mary might like them.  “The dishes are blue” his grandfather said in his heavy Swedish accent, “and so is the box they came in.  If you want them, you can have them.  If you don’t want them, I will probably donate them to the Salvation Army.”

After they received the invitation from Jon’s grandfather to come look at the dishes, Mary thought she might be getting something for everyday use.  But once they went up to the attic and opened the box, they discovered an unbelievable treasure.  Mary found herself looking at some of the most exquisite china she had ever seen.  Each plate had been individually painted with a pattern of forget-me-nots.  The cups had an inlaid mother-of-pearl.  The dishes and cups were rimmed with gold.  The entire set had been handcrafted in a small Bavarian factory that was destroyed during World War II.  They were literally irreplaceable.   

Jon told his wife, “I am 42 years old and have eaten countless dinners at my grandparents’ home, and I have never seen this china before.”  Mary thought it didn’t look like anyone else had ever seen them either.  “The question is why?” she asked.  “Why had no one ever seen these beautiful, hand-crafted dishes?” 

“In order to answer that question,” Jon said, “you must know something about the character of the Swedish people who had immigrated to this country.  They were a very cautious kind of people.  For example, my two great aunts lived for over eighty years in a magnificent Victorian home built by my grandfather in the 1800’s.  The most lavish room in the house was the parlor.  It was reserved for very special guests.  No guest that special ever came to the house, so the parlor didn’t get used much.” 

According to Jon’s grandfather, whenever his grandmother received a piece of china, because it was so valuable, she would wrap it carefully in tissue, put it in a box, and store it for a very special occasion.  No occasion ever came that was that special.  Jon’s grandmother went to her grave with perhaps the greatest gift of her life unopened and unused.

As we start a new year, let us make the effort to see what is special in the people we work with.  God has given each one of us a wonderful gift – the gift of uniqueness.  I encourage each of us to examine and discover who we are, what it is that we can contribute to our community, and what part of ourselves that we can risk for others. 

James 2:18 says, “I will show you my faith through my good deeds.”  My prayer for the new year is for all of us at CityLinC to have the strength to share a little piece of our greatest gift, the gift of ourselves, and help someone else feel special.