September 18, 2024 When he said it, I was overcome by a wave of fear. It was high school earth science. I happened to be in a class with my twin sister, Deanna, and some of our best friends. We all sat in the same row in a classroom with rows of connected tables instead of individual desks. It was like we were all seated on one side of a long table. Our row had been passing around a note during class. I started the note, but nearly everyone in the row had added something to it, each of us laughing as we read it and added to it. The note included unkind comments, including some about our teacher. I had written probably the worst comment. So, when the teacher called us out for laughing in class and asked to see the paper we were passing around, I was scared. I think we all were. We didn’t want to get caught with that note. In a move no one anticipated, Deanna grabbed the note off table and shoved it in her mouth. Somehow, she was able to force herself to swallow it. She ate every shred of the piece of loose-leaf paper that contained our unkind scribblings. I remember feeling simultaneously impressed, relieved, grateful and entertained. When someone talks about sacrificial love, I always think of Deanna eating that note. Deanna did something that had to be uncomfortable and that put her at risk of getting in trouble to save the rest of us, especially me. She loved us enough to sacrifice herself for us. Deanner (that’s what I usually call her) eating that note came up in conversation recently. It occurred to me how blessed I am to have people who love me that much, people who sacrifice for me. Then I think of our Lord, who made an even bigger sacrifice and went through far more than discomfort, suffering death on a cross to give us the ultimate protection and gift and saved us from sin and death. I think it’s easy to forget that sometimes. It’s easy to forget how loved we are, by both our God and the people he sends to us. And sometimes it’s gratitude that overcomes me. |
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