The Chair
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