During the summer of 1947, like many nine year olds, I had a growth spurt, and would need a new coat for the coming winter months in the Pacific Northwest. Mother took me shopping, and I selected a bright cherry-red coat made of poodle cloth. The color of my coat and its “curly” surface made me smile. I could hardly wait to wear it, and show it to my friends and classmates.
I donned my new coat then went to my piano lesson at Mr. Strong’s house. Excitedly, I ran inside and straight to his elderly, blind Aunt Nelly. She was always dressed in dark clothing, and wore a pinafore apron over her clothes. Her gray hair was drawn up into a tight bun. Her favorite place to sit was a small wooden rocking chair. Many times I watched her there as she darned her nephews stockings, her small fingers sensing where to glide the darning needle. I said to her, “Aunt Nelly, feel my new coat!”
She replied tersely, “I don’t feel, I see with my fingers.”
With that response, my pride was deflated, but as her fingers moved across the textured
poodle cloth, she said she thought the coat would keep me warm.
After my piano lesson, I watched her as she searched for the darning needle that she had accidently dropped onto the floor. She fetched a broom and dustpan from the kitchen and swept carefully around her chair. Soon I saw the shining needle lying in the dustpan. I wondered how she had been able to thread it. Aunt Nelly did not have the help of a guide dog, nor did she use a white cane when she walked. She simply locked her arm through her nephews arm, and trusted him to guide her.
Many times, since childhood, I have observed people with limited vision, or no vision, and I marvel at their level of trust. On a busy crosswalk, they let their guide dog lead the way when the light is green, or they place their trust in a friend or family member. If only we, as Christians, would allow the Holy Spirit to guide us in our daily walk with GOD, how much easier it would be. How much more confident we would become. In John 16:13, the words of JESUS are recorded: “Howbeit when he, the Spirit of truth, is come, he will guide you into all truth: for he shall not speak of himself; but whatsoever he shall hear, that shall he speak: and he will shew you things to come.” (KJV)
GOD wants to guide us. As we walk with Him, and trust in His leading, we will “see” what the apostle Paul said in his letter to the Hebrews: “Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.” (Hebrews 11:1 KJV) To trust means to have faith. Our faith in
