Thoreau’s Walk With God

“The most I can do for my friend is simply to be his friend.  I have no wealth to bestow on him.  If he knows that I am happy in loving him, he will want no other reward.  Is not friendship divine in this?”

- Henry David Thoreau

 

Henry Thoreau suffered with Tuberculosis over his life.  During a thunderstorm in 1859, he was compelled to walk into the rain to count the rings on a tree stump.   From that excursion, he fell ill and never recovered.  Bedridden, he accepted the terminal nature of his condition.  Those around him were amazed at his tranquil nature as death approached.  At the end of his life, a friend asked him if he had made peace with God.  He simply replied, ” “I did not know we had ever quarreled.” 

Romans 5:1  Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ,

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The Answer To A Prayer

During the great depression, a hard working carpenter volunteered to construct crates to ship clothes, which his church was sending to an orphanage in another state.  The man worked hard all afternoon and built sturdy crates.  When he was finished, he gently packed the clothing into the crates and nailed them shut.  Then he delivered the crates to the train station and even helped load them onto a railcar.

After arriving home, he reached into his shirt pocket and fumbled for his glasses.  They were gone.  He instantly realized what happened — the glasses must have slipped out of his pocket and fell into one of the crates.  His new glasses were on a train and there was nothing he could do. 

The man worked hard to support his large family.  He had very little money and times were tough.  The thought of having to buy another set of glasses troubled him a great deal.  Overcome by a moment of self pity, he reflected upon all of the time he had given of himself to build those crates and deliver them to the train station. “It’s just not right!” 

The following year, the proprieter of the orphanage was visiting the numerous Churches that supported them over the years.  This Sunday, he was at the carpenter’s Church.  He began by sharing stories of the orphans and concluded by thanking the people for their faithfulness in supporting the orphanage.  “But most of all,” he said, “I thank you for the glasses you sent.  You see, I dropped my glasses one night while taking one of the children to the doctor and they shattered when they hit the ground.  I was practically blind without those glasses and I had terriible headaches every day.  I prayed often about this.  Then your crates arrived and when we took them apart.  My wife picked up the glasses and handed them to me. ”  

The man paused long enough to let his words sink in.  Then, still gripped with the wonder of it all, he smiled from ear to ear and said, ”Folks, when I tried on the glasses, it was as though they had been custom-made just for me! 

The people listened, happy for the miraculous glasses — but the man surely must have confused their church with another.  There were no glasses on the list of items to be sent to the orphanage.  But sitting quietly in the back with a tear in his eye, an ordinary carpenter realized the Lord had used him in a most extraordinary way.

Psalms 5:3  Listen to my voice in the morning, Lord.  Each morning I bring my requests to you and wait expectantly. 

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