This week we focus on the theme of learning who and what is blessed, drawing from Jesus' famous upside-down beatitudes in the Sermon on the Mount. Below is a story excerpted from the week's Bible study. Enjoy!
If there was a child in Melvin’s
community who had more strikes against him, I don’t know who it was. Melvin was
born in the middle of a string of children from different fathers to a mother
who battled substance addiction. They lived in a tiny home near the railroad
tracks and an abandoned mill. In a neighborhood of poor children, they were the
poorest. On top of all that, Melvin had been born with developmental
disabilities due to his mother’s drug use.
Melvin didn’t seem to be aware of his
woes. He came faithfully to after-school club, smiling until his eyes
disappeared and shouting “Hello, Miss Carol! Hello!” when he walked in the
door. When the other children teased him, he frowned and gruffed at them to
stop, but the frowns never stayed long. “I’m hungry, Miss Carol! I’m hungry!”
he would shout. At snack time, he would joyfully, reverently eat his crackers
and juice, savoring every crunch and sip. He connected deeply with colors and
tastes, rubbing a piece of corduroy between his fingers or pushing a purple
crayon deep into his paper.
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| Image courtesy of Kestutis Kasparavicius, Fine Art America |
In October, Melvin began drawing
pumpkins. Bright, lumpy orbs with green stems filled paper after paper, some
with teeth and eyes. Then I began to receive gifts, pumpkin pictures left on my
chair or desk. “To Miss Crol” they said, and were signed, “Melvin.” Halloween came
and went, and still two, three, four gifts arrived daily. Finally the flow
began to subside until I thought we were done with Melvin’s pumpkin phase. Then
one afternoon he ran up to me, a flash of orange in his hand. “Here, Miss
Carol,” he said. It was another pumpkin picture, addressed to me. But this time
there was a message, printed in bold black crayon: “I love you, Miss Crol.”
Melvin threw his arms around me and squeezed. “Thank you, Melvin.” I said. “Thank
you for this wonderful gift.”
