Category Archives: thepuritans

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The Cab Ride

This story was forwarded to me in an email. I don’t know where it started, who wrote it, or if it’s a true story, but when I read it I knew I had to share it. Please read it and then I’ll explain……

I arrived at the address and honked the horn. After waiting a few minutes I walked to the door and knocked. ‘Just a minute’, answered a frail, elderly voice. I could hear something being dragged across the floor. After a long pause, the door opened. A small woman in her 90′s stood before me. She was wearing a print dress and a pillbox hat with a veil pinned on it, Like somebody out of a 1940′s movie. By her side was a small nylon suitcase. The apartment looked as if no one had lived in it for years. All the furniture was covered with sheets. There were no clocks on the walls, no knickknacks or utensils on the counters. In the corner was a cardboard box filled with photos and glassware.

‘Would you carry my bag out to the car?’ she said.I took the suitcase to the cab, then returned to assist the woman. She took my arm and we walked slowly toward the curb. She kept thanking me for my kindness. ‘It’s nothing’, I told her. ‘I just try to treat my passengers the way I would want my mother treated’. ’Oh, you’re such a good boy’, she said. When we got in the cab, she gave me an address and then asked, ‘Could you drive through downtown?’ ’It’s not the shortest way,’ I answered quickly. ’Oh, I don’t mind,’ she said. ‘I’m in no hurry. I’m on my way to a hospice’. I looked in the rear-view mirror. Her eyes were glistening. ‘I don’t have any family left,’ she continued in a soft voice. ‘The doctor says I don’t have very long. ‘I quietly reached over and shut off the meter.

‘What route would you like me to take?’ I asked. For the next two hours, we drove through the city. She showed me the building where she had once worked as an elevator operator. We drove through the neighborhood where she and her husband had lived when they were newlyweds. She had me pull up in front of a furniture warehouse that had once been a ballroom where she had gone dancing as a girl. Sometimes she’d ask me to slow in front of a particular building or corner and would sit staring into the darkness, saying nothing. As the first hint of sun was creasing the horizon, she suddenly said, ‘I’m tired. Let’s go now’. We drove in silence to the address she had given me.

It was a low building, like a small convalescent home, with a driveway that passed under a portico. Two orderlies came out to the cab as soon as we pulled up. They were solicitous and intent, watching her every move. They must have been expecting her. I opened the trunk and took the small suitcase to the door. The woman was already seated in a wheelchair. ’How much do I owe you?’ She asked, reaching into her purse. ’Nothing,’ I said. ’You have to make a living,’ she answered. ’There are other passengers,’ I responded. Almost without thinking, I bent and gave her a hug. She held onto me tightly. ’You gave an old woman a little moment of joy,’ she said. ’Thank you.’ I squeezed her hand, and then walked into the dim morning light. Behind me, a door shut. It was the sound of the closing of a life.

I didn’t pick up any more passengers that shift. I drove aimlessly lost in thought. For the rest of that day, I could hardly talk. What if that woman had gotten an angry driver, or one who was impatient to end his shift? What if I had refused to take the run, or had honked once, then driven away? On a quick review, I don’t think that I have done anything more important in my life. We’re conditioned to think that our lives revolve around great moments. But great moments often catch us unaware – beautifully wrapped in what others may consider a small one.

People may not remember exactly what you did or what you said, but they will always remember how you made them feel.

The reason I shared this story is because even though Christ is not mentioned, I see Him throughout it. The compassion that the Lord would have us show. Many of His parables did not mention Him or His Father specifically, but they pointed to them both. This is a great story. It is so fitting for me to read this as I am convicted about my lack of patience toward most people most of the time…..

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Retired Ministers?

I’m not sure I get the concept of a “retired missionary or minister” of the gospel. Since God has called us to work, the idea of retiring from the work He has engaged us in seems to go against the the divine mandate. Should we not work until ability fails us? Are we called to the ministry or are we just working a career? And if we look forward to the day of retiring from ministry, are we not being selfish? God has called us to work, not retire. The rest we receive will be that which we are given when this fleshly garb expires and we find ourselves in the rest in the fulfilled promise of our Father through His Son Jesus Christ. When we are no longer able to work the way we have always worked, then the nature of our work should change to whatever ability God has been gracious enough to equip us with. We are to redeem every moment until God retires us. To choose to do this for ourselves, we are saying that we are sovereign in our lives. We must redeem every moment, we are not our own!

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God’s Glorious Beauty

Then Moses went up into the mountain, and a cloud covered the mountain. Now the glory of the LORD rested on Mount Sinai, and the cloud covered it six days. And on the seventh day He called to Moses out of the midst of the cloud. The sight of the glory of the LORD was like a consuming fire on the top of the mountain in the eyes of the children of Israel. So Moses went into the midst of the cloud and went up into the mountain. And Moses was on the mountain forty days and forty nights. (Exo 24:15-18 NKJV)

Seeing this today in the sky as I left the shop, I was utterly amazed. No one can paint the sky the way our God does! He dwells in unapproachable light. He is altogether glorious and He makes all things that we may see that He is glorious. I never get enough of His beauty or how He shares with us what He makes everyday. Perhaps no man can see God and live, but God has certainly given man plenty to see that we may enjoy Him while we do live here on this earth! Praise God! Praise Him!

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He Gave Us Fathers

It’s A Wonderful Life is my favorite movie of all time. In the scene above, George Bailey’s honeymoon has just been canceled by a run on the bank. In a moment of gathering himself, he stops and takes a look at the picture of his deceased father hanging on the wall of his office. I can only imagine what would have been going through his mind at this moment, but for some reason this particular scene has been replaying in my mind as of late.

With my Dad’s passing almost five months ago, I find myself wanting to talk to him and wishing I had gotten more advice from him while I had the opportunity. He had real character. Realizing that he isn’t around for me to talk to feels so foreign and seems to hit me as if I have been awoken suddenly from a deep sleep. The reality of it all is still so incomprehensible to me. Behold the sting of death for those that wait for it but are laid waste through the collateral damage of lost loved ones. While I still live, I am reminded to be a good father, to be a good husband, to be a good steward of what God has placed in my charge. I am reminded to be thankful.

I thank God for godly parents. I thank God that I had a good Dad. I thank God that I will see him again. I thank God that there is an example behind me and a goal before me. I thank God that He will wipe away all tears and sadness. I thank God for His Son.

Thank God!

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Blessed Tenderness

He whispers to me, “Let all this go,
There is grace for you that I will show”

And once in His arms the burdens lift
As some splendid supernatural gift

Without remorse and regret He saves
Through an enduring faith to me He gave

With faith enough to believe in His Son
That in Him His work on me is done

-brandon phillips