My husband noticed her first and pointed her out to me. From our seats in the choir facing the congregation, we often see things others might miss.
She is old, bent and using a walker. Every Sunday, she sits on the end of a pew
and an usher stows her walker in the narthex until the end of the service when
it is returned to her during the singing of the last hymn. She is always alone. The experiences of her years, whatever they
have been, sit heavily on her small frame.
Much of the time she slumps over so far to her left that it’s hard to
see her there in the pew.
This morning when the final hymn was announced, everyone
stood and prepared to sing. It took her
a bit longer to struggle to her feet.
The aged hand reached forward and grasped the back of the pew in front
of her. Gradually she rose, and as she
lifted her head and faced the altar her lips were moving with the familiar
words: "Onward Christian soldiers,
marching as to war…"
That she faithfully struggles to be there every Sunday at
11:00 gives testimony to her own march in this Christian army. Go onward, Christian Soldier…with the cross
of Jesus going on before!