Who's the Teacher?

We ushered at Church on Sunday.

Our church, Palmer Memorial Episcopal Church, is in the heart of the Texas Medical Center/Rice University community and adjoins Hermann Park. Our neighbors are our affluent Medical Center/Rice neighbors and those who use some version of our adjoining parks as their current address.

Though Palmer feeds and ministers to countless homeless Houstonians through the Palmer Way Station, we rarely have homeless friends in our 9:00 a.m. Sunday service.

Today, we welcomed a Way Station client into our 9:00 a.m. service. He chose the last pew. As an usher, I had the chance to invite him to communion. I don't know if he didn't initially realize that we were administering communion at the front and back of the Church, or if he didn't realize that I was welcoming him to communion. So much is communicated with gestures and facial expressions. When we made eye contact, he eagerly took communion.

I would not have thought of my new stranger encounter again, until he changed my life. As he left the service, he asked one of my fellow ushers and me where he could contribute. He gave a few cents to my friend.

Until today, the story of the Widow's Mite was a parable. Today, it became a real example of faith and thankfulness.