A GENUINE CHRISTIAN COMMUNITY

Tuesday, November 20, 2007

I was deeply moved and strongly impressed by a story told by Dr. Emile Cailliet. The story is too long to print in its entirety so I will quote and paraphrase as follows.

“In the Lord’s providence, the upward trail I was now following led me through a genuine Christian community as if to illustrate afresh the Master’ assertion, “By their fruits ye shall know them.” The circumstances that led me to these good people were of a rather unusual nature.”

Dr. Cailliet had been invited to spend a week in a mountain cabin when their little boy became ill and there was no doctor within reach. The only doctor was in a distant village that could only be reached by goats’ trails across a mountain. So he put the boy on his shoulders and started on the demanding journey. A small surgical intervention was called for so he had to leave his son over night. As he walked the street aimlessly looking for a place to eat and sleep, a man asked him if he could be of any help. Having heard his story the man opened his home to him. He introduced him to his wife and children. The children stopped their games and stood up to greet him with an inbred reverence. He was immediately taken upstairs to “his” room which was neat and clean. A short time later a gentle knock was heard on the door, and supper was announced.

Down stairs he found a long table with a patriarchal figure standing at the center. It was the grandfather. He had long hair and a white beard. A well-worn family Bible was open in front of him. Next to him on one side stood the man who had invited him in; on the other side, his wife. To her left, the little ones were seated according to age; to her husband’s right, their grown-up boy. There was an empty place at the center, next to the patriarch, a place for the guest. The bearded grandfather then began to read the Bible as D. Cailliet has never heard it read since. There followed a prayer; or rather, the patriarch spoke to God, to Him who was near. Then there was a silence from the depths of which emerged the singing of a psalm. The old man invited their guest to sit down; he in his turn sat down, and the others followed. The free and cheerful conversation that followed soon gave evidence of the genuine happiness enjoyed by this family.

After a wonderful night of sleep, Dr. Cailliet found the same scene re-enacted at the breakfast table. This time, the patriarch rose at the end to pray for the sick boy and to give thanks for their visitor. He left and made his way to the doctor’s house. He accepted only a nominal fee, because, he said, Dr. Cailliet was a stranger in need.

“With the lad happily back on my shoulders, I started on my return journey across the mountain; yet I was no longer the same man, for the experience just evoked was to leave and indelible mark upon me.”

And it has left an indelible mark on me too. We move too fast, miss too much and fail to enjoy genuine happiness.