Vignette on Trusting the Child Heart

 

Vignette on Trusting the Child Heart

It’s a bright and hot sunny day and I’ve been out for an afternoon of bridge.  I walked along the beach with a friend and stopped to pick up a few groceries.  We then went our separate ways.  The trek home from here is uphill all the way and there are three quite steep hills to climb.  The groceries get heavier and heavier and I’m getting warmer and warmer and quite uncomfortable.  There are benches interspersed along the way so I plan to stop at the next opportunity to rearrange my baggage.  The nearest rest area is one that is frequented by street people.  I make my stop there, reorganize my packages and drape a bag over my shoulder and I’m off again.  I’m making good time…one…two…but the steepest hill is still to come.  Determined, I just keep going and I’m on top of the third hill.  I run my hand under the strap on my shoulder and … oh oh! that is NOT my purse strap, it is the bag strap…I must have left my purse on the bench when I stopped!  My first thought is about the ‘vagrants’ that hang out there and what are the chances my purse is still there!  But I remind myself that God is All and nothing can alter … nothing can enter that maketh a lie!

I am standing in front of an apartment building.  A young girl is sitting on the lawn reading a book.  I tell her of my dilemma and ask her if I can leave my bag with her while I go and look for my purse.  She responds yes but then suggests that it might be quicker for her to go and look for the purse and I would wait there to which I happily agree,  She leaves and for what seems a very long time, there is no sign of her return.  For a minute or two, my head intervenes with thoughts of “what were you thinking…telling a stranger that you lost your purse and telling her exactly where the purse was!” but that was just a momentary temptation.  I promptly returned to trusting the Child and sure enough I saw her coming back but I knew she was empty-handed just from her demeanor.

So, I thank her for her kindness and that is when I truly realized my dilemma.  I had no I.D. , no money, no keys!  I was a street person!  I had just been to the bank and had cash in my purse.  Oh, but I was a street person with a bag of groceries! 

I went into a grocery store and asked where the nearest police station was.  It was too far to walk…I couldn’t take a bus…I truly was a street person.  And the Child would never leave me so I had nothing to worry about.

I started thinking of what it might be like…this would be a new adventure…I’ve never been a street person before…I would share my food with them and I would learn something about their lifestyle…Oh, but I bought a huge chocolate bar and I didn’t want to share it so I took it out and started to eat it!  (Well, yes, isn’t that what the child would do?)  Ha!

 Eventually, I thought, well I can’t just stand on the street and fill my face with chocolate, I should go somewhere…but where will I go?  Well, dahhhhhhhh!  I could go home…I could try to get in…so I tuck my chocolate back into the bag and head for home.  Sure, one of the neighbors let me in the building and the Manager opened my apartment door.

Oh now…the big hullabalu…where do I start!  I will have to report all the credit cards and this and that and….I pick up the phone to call my son.  There is a voice mail.  A lady’s voice says: “My name is Mary Kay, I found your purse!”  It was right there on the bench where I left it!

I was amazed when I look back at this event.  Without the Child I would have been in total panic.  It is such a sweet and tender and oh so dear feeling that Love is all there Is.  That like the lily in the field I need not spin or toil.   That I can never be separated from my Good.  That the Child never lets go of my hand.  All is well when you just wrap up in God’s arms.