Mabel: A Living Story of Love Never Ending

A reading from 1 Corinthians 13:  "Love is patient.  Love is kind.  It does not envy.  It does not boast.  It is not proud.  Love is not rude, nor is it self-seeking.  Love is not easily angered and it keeps no record of wrongs.  Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth.  It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.  Love never fails..."

A person could easily reread those verses and substitute "Mabel" in for "love."  

Mabel, Mabel, Mabel....a beautiful woman inside and out.

...a child of God.

...a mixture of smiles and determination.

...a witness of faith in trying times.

Mabel, Mabel, Mabel.

When Mabel first came to the nursing home, Mabel was known to say "I can go anytime"  or "I'm not sure why I am still here."  

The staff of the nursing home responded:

Mabel, you are here to encourage others with your smiles.

Mabel, you are here to fill the day with laughter, with your sense of humor.

Mabel, you are here to remind us that we need to live each day as we are given.

Mabel, you are here to decorate this place with your festive sweatshirts!

Mabel, you are here to keep the authors of country western literature in business! (Mabel was a voracious reader.)

We could all speculate plausible and wonderful reasons why Mabel was here, but the bottom line was:

God created Mabel for love in the world.

to love...

to be loved...

to share love...

to offer love...

And that was Mabel, a living example of the grace and mercy of God, a wonderful gift of love.

Thank You, God, for the gift of Mabel.

Thank you, Mabel, for sharing God's gift of love with us,

now and forevermore, Amen.

(July, 1996)