Meadowbrook United Church
Our Mission
 As followers of Christ, the “Meadowbrook United Church exists to glorify God and to live out God’s purpose for salvation by reflecting the unconditional love of God through dynamic Christian worship, mutual care & support, active community engagement and proactive servant leadership, working towards peace and harmony in community”.
   

CLOSE SHAVE

(A Testimony)

By

Sis. Maisie Gore

 

I

t was a lovely day, one of the best since Meg became ill and stopped working.  Her caregiver, Sheila, cooked up a storm in the kitchen in preparation for the weekend, and now she was nearly ready to start her journey home.  She stood at the bedroom door waiting to be paid by Meg, who was slowly getting out of bed.  Meg moved towards the dresser, took her handbag out of the drawer and rested it on the bed.  As she leaned over the bag there was a loud explosion.  A small object broke through the window, flew over Meg’s head, ricocheted off the wall behind Sheila, slightly grazing her neck as it fell to the floor.

In retrospect, the incident appeared to have occurred in slow motion. Both women let out muffled screams and tried to leave the room. They did not succeed in moving any great distance away before they started animated conversation.  Needless to say, there were more questions than answers.

Sheila recovered the object from the floor and they realized that it was a spent bullet.  They were gripped with deep fear and it took several minutes before they recovered sufficiently to call the Police.

While awaiting the arrival of the Police, they related the incident to some other occupants of the apartment complex who also heard the explosion.  They then discovered that the shots came from the direction of a depressed neighbourhood nearby.  When the Police eventually arrived at nightfall, the officer in charge, a female, was well informed and well spoken.  She asked all the right questions and gave some assurance to Meg and Sheila.

The officer was unable to keep her promise to update the householder about her progress in the case Meg, due to an unrelated reason, removed from the apartment shortly after the incident.

The story does not end here. As both the householder and her caregiver realized how close they both came to death or to serious injury, they both believed that the incident illustrated the goodness of God’s love and protection. They now tell this story as a testimony of thanksgiving to God for protecting them from their ‘close shave’ with death.