A man's daughter had asked the local priest to come and pray with her father.
When the priest arrived, he found the man lying in bed with his head propped up
on two pillows and an empty chair beside his bed. The priest assumed that the
old fellow had been informed of his visit.
"I guess you were expecting me," he said. "No, who are you?" "I'm the new
associate at your parish," the priest replied. "When I saw the empty chair, I
figured you knew I was going to show up." "Oh yeah, the chair," said the
bedridden man. "Would you mind closing the door?" Puzzled, the priest shut the
door, "I've never told anyone this, not even my daughter," said the man. "But
all of my life I have never known how to pray. At the Sunday Mass I used to hear
the pastor talk about prayer, but it always went right over my head." "I
abandoned any attempt at prayer," the old man continued, "until one day about
four years ago my best friend said to me, 'Joe, prayer is just a simple matter
of having a conversation with Jesus. Here's what I suggest. Sit down on a chair,
place an empty chair in front of you, and in faith see Jesus on the chair. It's
not spooky because he promised, 'I'll be with you always.' Then just speak to
him and listen in the same way you're doing with me right now."
"So, Father, I tried it and I've liked it so much that I do it a couple of hours
every day. I'm careful, though. If my daughter saw me talking to an empty chair,
she'd either have a nervous breakdown or send me off to the funny farm." The
priest was deeply moved by the story and encouraged the old guy to continue on
the journey. Then he prayed with him, anointed him with oil, and returned to the
rectory.
Two nights later the daughter called to tell the priest that her daddy had died
that afternoon. "Did he seem to die in peace?" He asked. "Yes, when I left the
house around two o'clock, he called me over to his bedside, told me one of his
corny jokes, and kissed me on the cheek. When I got back from the store an hour
later, I found him dead. But there was something strange, Father. In fact,
beyond strange - kinda weird. Apparently, just before Daddy died, he leaned over
and rested his head on a chair beside the bed.
Author unknown. If anyone has a proprietary interest in this story please
authenticate and I will be happy to credit, or remove, as the circumstances
dictate.
Wit & Wisdom - November 30, 1998
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