Wednesday, January 6, 2021
After meeting Dot for the first time about 39 years ago it didn’t take me but a few days to be convinced of the Bible verses that I would one day be quoting concerning her life as it impacted mine. The verses are from Matthew 25:34 – 40 which read:
“Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world.
For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.’
“Then the righteous will answer him, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you? When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?’
“The King will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.’
I came to the Troy area as one of the “least of these” – alone, a total stranger. Dot took me in. She gave me a place to stay for 20 years. She fed me, she looked after me, she gifted me clothes, and she even washed my clothes. Dot showed me love and mercy and grace of which I did not deserve, and to which I am forever grateful. In short, she let me know very early on that I was no longer to be an “alien in a foreign land”, but that I was now part of her home – part of her family.
So why did Dot treat me so kindly? Well, humanly speaking, it is obvious that she was a very wonderful person. I am sure, though, that Dot would have none of this kind of talk because she clearly knew what made her the person she was: it was all the Lord Jesus Christ’s doing. He took what she was, and what every human being is, a sinner, whose works are like filthy rags and, through her faith in His death and resurrection, He transformed Dot into what we all were blessed to experience these many years: a little Christ.
Providentially my “Christian Author” daily reading I was set to read on the day I found out about Dot’s glorious entry into heaven was out of C.S. Lewis’s book “Mere Christianity”, chapter 7. It addresses how we should respond to the kindness a person shows us and reads: “At first it is natural for a baby to take its mother’s milk without knowing its mother. It is equally natural for us to see the man who helps us without seeing Christ behind him. But we must not remain babies. We must go on to recognize the real Giver. It is madness not to. Because, if we do not, we shall be relying on human beings. And that is going to let us down. The best of them will make mistakes; all of them will die. We must be thankful to all the people who have helped us; we must honour them and love them. But never, never pin your whole faith on any human being: not if he is the best and wisest in the whole world. There are lots of nice things you can do with sand; but do not try building a house on it.”
I honor and love my New York “Mom”, Dot. But I am confident that she would really want all of us to join with her, now, in directing all our praise, honor, and love to the One real Giver, Jesus Christ. I am also equally confident that Dot’s greatest desire would be that every single person who ever came to know her would experience the same personal relationship she had with Jesus that brought her great hope, joy, and peace throughout her life and, even now, has given her what we all ultimately seek – true life everlasting.
We will miss Dot's God given gift of hospitality which she lavished on us all over the years. But now she is hosting Jesus face to face in the mansion He prepared for her. Wow! What a tremendous image this is. Dot is most certainly beside herself with joy, yes? Yes.
Looking forward to the day when we will all sit around Dot's table once again, together with Jesus in heaven, and partake of a great meal (and Dot's desserts of all kinds – yum!), my love to you all. John
