IF I HAVE WOUNDED ANY SOUL TODAY

Like peering through a foggy windshield on a rainy day, their names emerge from the misty past: Madelyn Von Meerbeck, Richard Alden, Dorothy Witt. They were my elementary grade schoolteachers almost a lifetime ago, now. Decades before supporting the dying and grieving became my ministry specialty, these primary Church School teachers tutored me first. In both my fourth grade and again in the sixth grade, I lost my teacher to cancer, midyear. My Father was their Pastor

and mine, too. Circumstances presented him with a judgment call on the evening he officiated Mrs. Witt's funeral. Was I too young for the experience? Chin-high to the casket edge, I looked over to see her crisply starched blouse, same as she appeared standing before our chalkboard. Pink globes in antique lamps lit the dim parlor. My teacher's teenage twin daughters entered, taking seats on the front row. Even more than Dad's Bible comfort, I recall the musical selection Mrs. Witt had requested. The congregation softly sang "An Evening Prayer" by Maude Battersby set to a tune by Charles H. Gabriel.

If I have wounded any soul today,

If I have caused one foot to go astray,

If I have walked in my own willful way,

Dear Lord, forgive!

If I have uttered idle words or vain,

If I have turned aside from want or pain,

Lest I offend some other through the strain,

Dear Lord, forgive!

If I have been perverse, or hard, or cold,

If I have longed for shelter in the fold,

When thou hast given me some fort to hold,

Dear Lord, forgive!

Forgive the sins I have confessed to thee;

Forgive the secret sins I do not see;

O guide me, love me, and my keeper be.

Amen.

My fourth grader heart couldn't see how a confession prayer fit in my perfect teacher's funeral. My tenderized retiree's conscience now sees how closely it fits ME and us all! In fact, the affect of our example on others has been a critical Biblical principle throughout history!

1. Members of the Church in Rome hotly debated whether the Old Testament feasts were still mandatory. Paul told them each believer's conscience could determine their practice, but whichever way the Spirit led them, they should not flaunt their decision. "Resolve...never to put a stumbling block or hindrance in the way of another." (Romans 14:13,NRSV)

2. In the Church at Corinth, the issue was eating meat from the market where butchers prayed an idol blessing over their product before selling it. Again, Paul didn't endorse either shopping choice, but he insisted an uncaring example was the same as sinning against the Savior! "When you...sin against members of your family, and wound their conscience when it is weak, you sin against Christ." (1Corinthians 8:13,NRSV)

3. Jesus, Himself, said the death penalty was not too severe for those leading His children astray! "But whoever misleads one of these little ones who believe in me, it would be better for him to have a millstone hung about his neck and to be drowned in the depths of the sea." (Matthew 18:6,MEV)

4. All the way back in Eden, God confronted Earth's first murderer, asking him where his perished Brother was. Cain wisecracked, "Am I my brother's keeper?" (Genesis 4:9,NRSV). God couldn't have been clearer! "Yes!" You were designed to protect and defend your little brother, not slay him!"

Yes, LORD, the old hymn still sings! If I have wounded any soul today...

Pastor Dave