I wasn’t in the sanctuary today, yet I felt my morning was full of grace.

In preparing for church school, I found a quiet place to cut out little cards, each indicating either a material good or an intangible blessing. So, for example, while one indicated “a car”, another indicated “peace”. The idea was to engage my class of early teens in an interactive activity, while having them cast their minds back to how the early Christians shared. As I cut the little cards, I couldn’t help but think about how I could share. That, of course, is the constant miracle of teaching – the teacher learns as much as the students.

With my preparatory task completed, I stepped into Grant Hall to find children of all ages, including members of my class, involved in a pre-class interactive activity. There they were, helping each other, sharing of their time, and of their skills. There they were in community. The theme of my lesson had been brought to life, even before I could place the cards before my class members. I would soon learn that my assignment today was not to teach, but instead to act.

Within minutes, I was confronted with my own opportunity to share. A church member believed she had left her stove on before heading to church, and was now quite worried about the risk of fire. She lived about six blocks away, but she did not have a car, and walking home would certainly waste precious time with so much hanging in the balance. So it was that with my class safely in the hands of another teacher, I offered a ride to the member. Sharing of my time, and of the benefit of a car, might well have averted a disaster. The stove, she reported, was on, the pot had become mangled, and the element was a write-off!

So it was that I learned about sharing, and about community, steps from the sanctuary, on a Sunday morning that gave words on little cards – car, and peace – meaning within the span of an hour.

Jide A.