Click this link to hear Jack’s recording of this prayer.

God – When I was age 10 and attending fourth-grade at E. A. Post Elementary, there was a school production to celebrate May Day.  All of the students and teachers coordinated this large festival production of singing, dancing, and wrapping streamers around the tall Maypole.

The event was big.  But, being in a wheelchair, I felt very small.  Very useless and insignificant.

I was rather out of place and uncomfortable.  That is because what could I really contribute to the festivities being confined to a wheelchair because of polio?   Clearly not dancing.  I could not sing.  Wrapping streamers around the Maypole was not physically possible.

Thankfully, the Principal at my school, Roy Metcalf, somehow knew that I needed to be included.  He had written a script especially for me and asked me to be Master of Ceremonies. My job was to say inspirational things about the occasion and to lead everyone through each of the activities being performed on the field.

That experience of someone making room for me will never be forgotten. Because my Principal saw value in me, I grew up to find value within myself and others too.   Isn’t that what we should do for others in service to You?

Many of Your places of worship are closed due to COVID-19.   But, the doors of our hearts can and must remain open to share Your grace.

At this time of social and familial distancing, we cannot hug or shake hands.  Smiles may not be seen by others as we wear our COVID-19 masks. But, there are countless things we each can do which reflect how You value us and, likewise, ways we can recognize and show appreciation of others.

For example,

To write handwritten notes as Your pen pal angels to others for them to receive messages of Holy hope from You.

To wave to others as they walk or ride a bicycle down the street where we live.

To say, “Thanks” to a cashier at a store’s check-out counter or at a drive-through window.

To invite a child to help bake cookies, make pizza or put flowers or tomato plants in the garden.

To ask a son or daughter to create a painting or drawing to place on a wall. (Children have talents and roles to be valued too).

Such simple acts mean so much now.  But, such deeds, like Principal Metcalf’s act for me when I was 10, often make an incalculable difference in later years.  Years when our self-worth is tested and when we need courage and strength to live and love by Your Word and to blossom in Your Kingdom.

If we ask You in prayer, “What can I do to make room for others?”  “What small thing can I do to show my empathy and compassion to a friend or stranger at this difficult time?”  You will certainly provide the answers.

God, not all of us can sing, dance on May Days, or weave colorful streamers around the Maypole.  But, we can all celebrate Your unbounded loving inclusivity of all Your children….a love without borders….a church without walls……a place marked with a Cross far more glorious than any Maypole. A place I found in a Principal’s heart making room for me in fourth grade. A little act of kindness which made a huge difference in me. 

Roy Metcalf died and is now with You in Heaven.  Yet, his kindness lives on in me.  Amen

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Jack H. Emmott is a Senior Counsel of Gray, Reed & McGraw, LLP, a 145-lawyer full-service firm in Houston, Dallas, and Waco, Texas, a Board-Certified Family Law and Master Credentialed Collaborative Law Professional Divorce Attorney, Mediator, Author, Entrepreneur and Inspirational Speaker.  For more information about Jack or his latest book, Bending Angels: Living Messengers of God’s Love, go to the Bending Angel website.