by Ben Roe
August 10, 2003
Dorothy and Ralph would always be at Warren's 8 o'clock worship service. When I'd come through the fellowship hall on the way to choir practice or to Open Door's 9 o clock service, Dorothy would always greet me with a warm acceptance and ask me how I was, expecting an honest answer. Maggie, who wasn't always in quite the hurry or as preoccupied as I was, was always greeted the same way, and asked how her work at Hospice of Metro Denver was.
Warm acceptance, genuine interest: A couple of characteristics I experienced from Dorothy Hoffman. Now maybe she wasn't always that way; after all, who of us is always consistent? But as I thought about it, I thought how valuable those two characteristics are.
And I remembered how others in my life have treated me that way, and I gave thanks, because these two characteristics can lead one out of oneself and into community, out of one's self-doubt and into self-acceptance. I think that must have been how most folks experienced Jesus. We have some powerful examples in the Gospels of how healing his presence was.
Maybe - if we can have a warm acceptance and genuine interest in each other here in whatever worship community we find ourselves - maybe we can carry on a part of the legacy of Dorothy and Jesus, and bring about greater community and greater self-acceptance.
Perhaps you are in a time of grieving the loss of a loved one. Perhaps in reflecting on them and your relationship with them, you can discover characteristics or gifts thay gave you that can point to Jesus as well -- and celebrate the way they might have been Jesus to you and the way we can be Jesus to each other, as Dorothy was to us.