THE SHEPHERD’S CORNER

The other day when I was swimming in YMCA, I talked to an elderly Asian couple. They turned out to be fellow ministers in Christ who used to serve under a rather famous pastor in Asia. I got to talk to them because the wife asked me to convince her husband, who suffers from stroke, to move around. Due to partial paralysis, his movement is rather restricted and stiff; moving around in the water is definitely good for him. So, I told him to move around, but unfortunately, he didn’t listen either to me or his wife.

However, the wife didn’t give up. She kept telling him—in their native tongue—to move his body and limbs. When I saw that, I couldn’t help but feel moved. Both are in their eighties, but they still help one another. I thought, they’re just wonderful couple; they must love each other deeply. After serving God all their lives, they are now struck by illness, but they carry on.

On the way home, I told Santy what I had witnessed, and I made a comment about their seemingly good relationship. Like a bomb, Santy responded, “I don’t like that man.” When I asked her, why, she, then, explained, “He was not nice to his wife. When they went in to the pool, he kept flashing water at her face. Apparently, he didn’t want to be in the water or do what she asked him to.” I tried to give him the benefit of the doubt that perhaps he was playing with her, but Santy convinced me that his face was dead serious.

Well, there goes my ideal couple! Evidently serving God together does not make us closer and more loving to each other. We can still be mean-spirited even after the indwelling of the Holy Spirit. But, this I also learned from the wife: Ignore the water, just focus on the soul. This poor soul is sick and in need of help.

Pastor Paul