--Difference Making ~~

---Mercy Goes A Long Way ~~

--"But Jesus called the children to him, and said, "Let the little children come to me, and so not hinder them,
for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these." --[Luke 18:16 / NIV] --

---My wife, Sandee, still runs twelve miles a week despite the fact that her knees are shot. Well, shot might be too strong a word. Her knees are ...umm...shot. I was right the first time. They are shot.

My in-laws have whispered to me that I should tell Sandee to stop running. I have myself a good chuckle, then whisper back two questions: "Have you ever met my wife? Do you think that would work?" The silence that follows it the answer.

Several therapies have been tried: stretches, anti-inflammatory drugs, needles. Some things worked for a while, but nothing long-term. So my wife has stuck to her homemade remedy: a heady mixture of tenacity and denial, plus a knew brace. Sandee says the concoction works fine. Then again that could be her homemade remedy speaking.

Recently, someone else noticed Sandee's struggles. A little girl was happily skipping in the other direction, then turned around to catch up with Sandee.

"I saw you running," she said, breathless and earnest. "I'll pray for your knee."

From Sandee's description of the encounter, the girl might be a little "touched ," as my sainted mother used to say. Then again, maybe not. Maybe genuine compassion is in such short supply that when we see it offered so freely, we assume that something must be wrong.

I will say this: Sandee's knee did feel better, almost instantly, I don't know what proportions make up Sandee's homegrown recipe--how much tenacity, how much denial--but I do know that it takes only a pinch of unsolicited mercy to go a very long way.

--"Lord, thank You for sending Your small angels to repair the world, one knee at a time"

--Guideposts/MC~.
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