The Disabellieite and the Mesquite Tree

    The way I see it- I recently discovered a public transportation company that has busses which are equipped to transport folks in wheelchairs. Trax is the name of this wonderful company. You see, up until now I was only able to travel within the distance of my Hoveround wheelchair. So, it had been a while since I had been to Mass. Unfortunately for me, Trax only runs on weekdays, and my local parish only has Mass once during the weekdays, and then only twice per month. But hey, that's better than nothing, right? Last Wednesday I made my first trip to Mass in Trax in my electric wheelchair. I say this because all of the people who worked with the priest had no idea who I was. I had been to a few masses on Sundays when I could get a ride in my manual wheelchair, but anyone who depends on others for rides can tell you, sometimes it is not easy to get a ride, especially early on a Sunday morning. But here I go all happy and stuff, and I arrived thirty minutes early. Now there is a nice little shrine to the Mother Mary on the side of the Church with some very welcome shade trees. So, that's where I went. A couple of times a nice lady came walking by me and hesitated two different times like she was going to say something to me but decided to ignore me and my toothless smile. People with disabilities can tell you that being ignored is a regular part of our inconvenient existence, so I paid it no mind. 

    I went to Mass and enjoyed (solemnly) the presence of our Lord in the Eucharist, stayed until the very end, even after being dismissed, then went outside to wait on the Trax bus to come pick me up. You guessed it, on the side with the shade. Now what I did not mention before, is that the side with the shade is where a side door is to the Chapel, where I soon discovered was where the "important" people came and went. I was sitting there when I saw a lone mesquite tree with some shade wayyy out by the road and decided to head over there and enjoy a cigarette. (Did I just lose my salvation??! lol) I had no more than started that way, when an elderly woman came out the side door, and began hollering at me. I turned around to face her and she immediately got all up in my business. What was I doing there, was I waiting on Trax, and pointing her strict bony finger towards the front parking lot, HOT parking lot, and proceeded to inform me that is where the Trax bus would be picking me up. As if I didn't know. I smiled, and simply said " Resist the devil and he will flee from you." and then, "bless your heart sister," and turned around going on my way. I could see it in her eyes when she was correcting my poor behavioral choice of going where the "important" people walked, that she had known in her spirit that she was doing something very un-Christ-like. So, I said nothing else and left her to the Lord.

This type of Christian at Church is nothing new, they are at most Churches. They hold a position at Church and love to tell others about it in the form of a true Pharisee. When you find one at your Church, please, whatever you do, don't sit in their personal spot in the pews. As I pulled up under the lone mesquite tree, wayyy out by the road, I was reminded of the story in the Bible where Jesus told Nathanael "Before Philip called you, when you were under the fig tree, I saw you." (John 1:48). I was happy again thinking that even though I did not see Him, I knew Jesus was with me. Just like He was with Nathanael. That nice lady had not stolen my joy; in fact, I prayed for her. She did not seem to have much in the way of joy in her life. Remember my fellow disabellieites, when someone treats you in a less than Christ-like manner, don't get angry at them, because they cannot give what they do not have. Instead, pray for them, and rejoice in the Lord that He brought them into your path that day. God Bless you all. C. L. Skaggs

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