22/3/21 Day 29

TODAY'S VERSE: 22/3/21 Day 29

“On the first day of the Festival of Unleavened Bread, when the Passover lamb is sacrificed, Jesus’ disciples asked him, “Where do you want us to go to prepare the Passover meal for you?” So Jesus sent two of them into Jerusalem with these instructions: “As you go into the city, a man carrying a pitcher of water will meet you. Follow him. At the house he enters, say to the owner, ‘The Teacher asks: Where is the guest room where I can eat the Passover meal with my disciples?’ He will take you upstairs to a large room that is already set up. That is where you should prepare our meal.” So the two disciples went into the city and found everything just as Jesus had said, and they prepared the Passover meal there.” - Mark 14:12-16

 

TODAY'S DEVOTION:

Suzy died too young. She was in her mid-thirties, had a family that loved her, and had a bubbly spirit. It seemed to me that she believed the rest of her life, the best of her life, was yet to come. Suzy lived outside most of the time; she ran with a pretty rough crew of other homeless people.  She was one of the friendliest, most likeable people I think I’ve ever met. Sure, she had a problem with drugs and an even bigger problem with alcohol – but that didn’t define her. What Suzy really liked to do was feed people.

Suzy would get her Food Stamp card and spend everything she had on it down at the Safeway.  Hamburgers, steaks, ribs, chicken, bag of chips all loaded into paper bags as she would climb the hill to the city park. Another friend would bring charcoal or else take the broken limbs of trees all around the city trees and start a fire. Then Suzy would cook. And drink. But it was the cooking that her friends remember about her. 

I wanted to help Suzy. I’d met her mother a couple of times and experienced how sad she felt about what had become of her daughter. Her mother seemed to know the fate Suzy was headed for. Once when Suzy was in jail, her mother asked me to visit Suzy. Not having any agenda, other than just to visit and see how she was doing. 

Between Suzy and me there was a thick plexiglass window. We picked up the telephones and had some small talk before I asked what she wanted to do after she was released. “I wanna make a big barbeque for everybody,” Suzy said, her eyes gleaming as she smiled. 

“How is she?” Suzy’s mother asked me. “She’s ok, I guess,” I spoke, not sure how much to share. “Do you know she feeds people?,” I asked. Tears. “That sure does sound like Suzy … My daughter feeds people.”

When Suzy died, her friends were crushed. The year after her death, Suzy’s friends planned a barbeque in her honor. It was a beautiful thing to see – this tight group that had splintered after her passing coming back together to remember their friend. “Say what you will about Suzy,” one of her friends said to me, “but that gal really knew how to feed people. And there’s no better way of remembering her than feeding each other.” To that, I have to say, “Amen.”

Pastor Pat Quaid

TODAY'S PRAYER

Lord, make your face to shine upon all those who suffer.  In our despair help us to trust in your steadfast love, for you are our God. Amen.



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