The child was lingering in our new Home Goods Closet as his mother selected items for their new apartment in Coraopolis. “Can I have one of those?” he asked as he pointed toward one of the white ceramic gravy boats from Sewickley UMC Turkey Dinners past. “Sure,” I said. “You must love gravy as much as I do.” The boy stared at me, clearly puzzled by my reference to gravy. “We will use it for tea,” his mother said. “We have tea together every night.” It was my first hour volunteering in the Home Goods Closet, and they were my first visitors. They moved into the area to be closer to family. The mother was having some health challenges. Their new apartment was presenting additional challenges, and the landlord was slow to respond.
In addition to the gravy boat, they took a toaster oven, bed sheets, some cleaning supplies, a football, and two white ceramic cups to complete their tea set. I didn’t have a clear vision of what our Home Goods Closet offered until I met mother and child. But I imagined the child in a new apartment, in an unfamiliar school, in a neighborhood where he hadn’t made friends yet. New noises. New smells. New routines. So much strangeness. But then, over a cup of tea with his mother in the evening, the unfamiliar faded a little and perhaps peace returned. I have no doubt Our Lord nourishes and encourages and heals in those quiet moments.
I keep mother and son wrapped in prayer, and I went to Walmart the next day and purchased three chrome teapots. They have left the shelves already and I must soon replace them. The Home Goods Closet occupies the space previously considered our “chapel.” I’ve been in there a thousand times to pray, and the room still accommodates that purpose. There’s a cross on the wall, and stained glass in the window. But I’m not sure I’ve felt closer to Him in prayer than I did in the few minutes I spent with mother and child.