Amen Is Beautiful

 

Samantha came to visit me last weekend.  We had the usual fun, but we also did some new things.  I had bought her some watercolors, various paint brushes and some good watercolor paper.  My mother bought her a bouncy playground ball, she also bought her a pink and silver soccer ball.

We painted off and on all day, including her fingernails. She was very interested in the different lines she could paint with different brushes.

PaPa went outside with her and they kicked the soccer ball around.  She is pretty good at it, she had played “soccer” with the kids at the nanny’s house until they all went back to school this Fall.

She was so full of energy, even bath time seemed to energize her and not get her relaxed.  We didn’t get to sleep until almost eleven PM!  Morning came early, and she didn’t wake me up this time.  She slept while  I got in the shower and put on my makeup.  Then I came back in the bedroom and turned on the light, which roused her.  I gave her some time to fully wake up while I got dressed for church.  She helped me choose which blouse to wear.

Then we went to the kitchen for breakfast.

I prepared a special treat for her breakfast, a waffle sandwich!  It was just two rectangle waffles, toasted and spread with chocolate cream and put together to make a sandwich.  I had one too!

She took a couple of bites, chewing slowly.  By the time she had taken three bites I had finished mine off.  She just was not in any hurry at all.  I told her we had only five minutes for breakfast and then we had to get her dressed for church. Time does not mean anything to a three-year old! Finally, I pulled my chair over next to hers and told her that as long as she kept eating, I would sit next to her and read to her from the Sunday funny pages. This strategy worked pretty well.

She was no trouble getting dressed and didn’t even fuss when I brushed out her hair.  She wanted to put on some of my makeup, she loves the purple eyeshadow and pale pink blush! I told her we could not use the makeup on her today.  She, of course, wanted to know why. I said that little girls do not wear makeup to church because they are already so beautiful that they don’t need it.  I told her that she especially was very beautiful just the way she was right then.  She accepted this explanation without comment.

When we arrived at church, I grabbed an activity bag for her.  We keep about twenty of these bags for the children to use during the service.  Each bag has crayons, stickers and coloring books.   This time she wasn’t interested in coloring, but she was all over the stickers. So we worked on those while she settled in, getting ready to being still and quiet.  She does move around a lot, but she is always quiet and respectful of the worshipful energy of the congregation.

Ever since she was an infant, she has loved the hymns. While being held in her mother’s arms she would hum just loud enough for us to hear while we were singing.  All of us were amazed that she could do this while just a little baby!  Now that she is a toddler, she loves to hear the piano and seems fascinated by the hymnals.

So there we were, standing and singing “Great and Marvelous Are Thy Works” and she gently tugged on my shirt. I leaned down to hear what she wanted to tell me and this is what she said:

“Amen is beautiful”.

That was all, and we had not even sang an amen yet. I think she heard it from an angel, I don’t think anyone told her this. I agreed with her and when we got to the end of the hymn, I bent down to show her the word on the page as we sang it, “AAAA-mennnnn”. She said again, “its beautiful”.

After the service was over people came over to us to say hello to her since she had not been at church with me for a while.  Each person who came over to us was graced with her solemn wide-eyed pronouncement that “Amen is beautiful”. Each person would agree with her, some would thank her for telling them this.

I was so pleased, so proud,  so amazed!  I was so happy to be able to watch her offer her special ministry!  That is what it was, sharing this thought, it was a ministry to those she spoke to.

Some people asked me if she meant amen at the end of a prayer or was it a hymn.  I had to say I really didn’t know, she just came up with it while we were singing.  I thought perhaps it was because it was something that we all say together, when at church, and the combined voices create a mystical energy that resonated with her.

Before beginning this post I looked up the definition of amen in the online Merriam Webster Dictionary.   This is what it says:

“—used to express solemn ratification (as of an expression of faith) or hearty approval (as of an assertion)

Middle English, from Old English, from Late Latin, from Greek amēn,

from Hebrew āmēn

First Known Use: before 12th century.”

Expressions of faith and agreement are indeed beautiful! Perhaps this is what Samantha sensed in church that day. I believe that she knows and remembers God, and that like me she has been born with the gift of faith. Maybe she even lived in a time when the word first came into use and this memory has remained with her.

I am reminded of the time when she was less than a year old, and I told her that I was here to help her and she was here to help me.  Then just after she turned three, she came up to me in my room and laid her hand on my arm.  When I looked at her she said “You are the best grandma in the world, and I am going to help you, and you are going to help me.”

She remembered what I told her even though she was just a baby at the time! We are in agreement now, and that is a beautiful thing!

Amen, Amen Samantha!

 

Readers:  Your comments are requested and appreciated!