Falling Through the Cracks
In 1957, a student at North Canton Middle School in Ohio laid down a purse. How or why it was done, there is no way to know now. But the purse was put between a small gap between a set of lockers and a wall in the hallway of the school. So far, the story is boring. A purse was set down, like so many others.
What makes the story interesting is that the purse was picked up.
Last month. January of 2020.
A janitor was replacing a piece of stripping between the lockers and wall just last month when he saw a purse in the small gap. It was the purse that was put there in 1957 and belonged to a lady who died about 17 years ago. (It was returned to her children who got all the money inside: 26 cents.)
When I first came across that story, I had several questions.
- Did the student look for her purse for a long time or were its contents not worth a major search?
- Did she lose it, or did some other student pull a prank and hide it?
- How was it not seen when the original stripping was added later?
I suppose there is no way to know the answers to these questions, but think about this for a moment: over the past 63 years, that purse has been right beside a locker in that school. It is not possible to know how many students have used that locker and been literally within inches of that purse. Beyond that, hundreds or even thousands more have walked right past it and never known it was there.
And then I began to wonder if we can do the same thing to people in our own congregations. They are not put somewhere by someone else, but some situation arises and they retreat just a little. Maybe they feel guilty by some sin. Maybe they have something embarrassing happen in their family and they feel ashamed. Maybe they are just going through a change in life and don’t feel like anyone notices.
And they fall through the cracks.
Sometimes, we want so much for everything to be right that we even gloss over struggles and difficulties in the lives of people. We just act as if all is well, much like that stripping was placed in that gap of the school hallway many years ago. We treat problems and struggles and shame as something to just be covered over, and the person who is hurting begins to feel all alone, though there are tons of people all around.
I pray that is never the case where you worship. Of course, we cannot know everything, and, of course, we will not always act or react in just the right way. We are people and we will make mistakes. Even the preacher or the elders might not deal with a situation the way the hurting person might think is right.
But one of the beauties of God’s design for the church is that we are to be a family, and that means that we have lots of people who can aid us. Some will be more hands-on, while some will pray fervently. Some will know just the right words to say and others will simply put a hand on your shoulder and give a loving smile. Some will write a card and some will do some act of kindness.
Each individual act may not seem like much, and, depending on your personality and the situation, may even feel a bit forced or “wrong.” But the overall momentum of these acts should cause anyone to realize that he or she has not fallen through the cracks.
“If one member suffers, all suffer together…” (1 Corinthians 12:26)
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AUTHOR: Adam Faughn
