More From Martyn Haynes

When it was suggested that I write a short blog to accompany my submission, I immediately thought of the influence my mother and grandparents had on my life.  Sometimes, only by looking in the rearview mirror can you see how you arrived at your present “location.”  When I look in my rearview mirror I see my dear departed mother, Frances Ann Moorhead Haynes, who made sure we three kids were in church each week and set a marvelous example for us.  I never heard her utter a curse word or share an unkind thought about another human being.  Her father, “Grandpa Doc,” was a — or probably the — dentist in Sciotoville, Ohio, where the story in today’s meditation takes place. He set a kind, gentle example for his daughter and us grandkids.  And so it is with us…

I’ve shared this railroad tie story many times with Pilgrims on Walk to Emmaus weekends.  I have also shared the story more recently with inmates at a California correctional center, during Kairos Prison Ministry weekends.  As I share this story at those activities, I always say to watch what you do and say around your grandkids, because they may be telling one of your stories decades from now.  Grandpa Doc probably never in a million years thought that I’d one day be sharing the story of our meeting at the railroad tracks with prisoners.  While the homeless displayed a fine example of showing others “where to find the food,” we also are responsible as Christians to show others where to find the spiritual “food” that God has for us all.  I’ve been blessed by the ministries that our good Lord has placed before me in Kairos Prison Ministry, children’s Sunday school, and The Walk to Emmaus weekends, and I want to always give back.  I sure hope that one day, one of the people I touch will share the food with others.