This Sunday night, our church was hosting a farewell dinner for one of our faculty members. It was requested by the congregation that the youth serve the dinner for those that were attending. It was amazing to see my students so excited and energetic to serve. We had a great time and smiles filled the room of about 150. I was touched by how thankful the congregation was with the student’s simple act of servitude, but meeting my new friend Christopher was definitely the highlight.
Christopher is a young man of 18 with Down syndrome. I have no idea who his parents are or where he came from but he ended up sitting by the door where dinner was to be served from. As no one bothered to introduce the two of us, I took initiative and introduced myself. He was very kind and seemed excited to meet me as well. After a brief intro, we began talking about the night and I asked if he was going to help us serve dinner. He replied with a yes (after I told him Free Pizza was involved). I then gave him a pair of gloves and he was off to the races. I noticed Christopher as he went from table to table with a pitcher of water excited to be able to provide someone with a nice cold drink to wash down their food. He continued on this way for some time, but most of those who were dining had an ample water supply. Whereas most would have given up, Christopher pressed on until he spotted it… He found what he was looking for... A place to put the water. He bee-lined towards the only empty table (which had no water) in the entire sanctuary and set his pitcher down. As he smiled, I felt his accomplishment from across the room. He then saw that I was watching him and came over to me, gave me a high five and said, “Took care of it boss”. This absolutely amazed me. It didn’t amaze me because of the irony of the action, but it brought to light a wishful understanding.
Christopher finds joy in the little things. He showed me how needs can be met simply and with great satisfaction. He did not seek praise or congratulations, he simply found joy in service. I can’t attest to his reasoning behind it nor can I assume that any of this was intentional. But Christopher did not quit. He knew that water was needed somewhere. When he found it, he did not hesitate to provide. Whether that water would be consumed or not, it was there, available to anyone who was called to it by the thirst of their lips. Christopher “took care of it.”
To be honest I haven’t really thought about Christopher or this story until tonight when I was working on a new blog entry. I was trying so hard to explain why Christ is about surrender, not acceptance. My mind was fumbling words and misplacing meaning and near the end of it, I am not sure if I even believed let alone understood what I had written. I became so focused on being right that I lost understanding. The Christian faith is as argumentative as politics and as disconnected as land is by water. My disconnect comes from an attempt to place value on my thoughts and beliefs when in reality I am just thirsty. Christ is the water and his truth is satisfaction. All I need to do is find it, and drink.
This story is less about Christopher placing the water at an empty table and more about the understanding of thirst. Maybe Christopher had it figured out. Maybe he knew that when people get thirsty, they will look for water. And what happens when people look for things???
They find it
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