Godspeed Mary!

Mary Taylor went Home to be with the Lord last night.  Mary was on hospice and was kept as comfortable as possible but we knew earlier this month that our 55^th Homecoming at Bartimaeus Baptist Temple (www.BBTemple.org) was probably going to be her last.

When my husband Larry and I stumbled on this tiny little Baptist church back in 2008 just outside of downtown Dallas little did we realize what a timeless treasure we would encounter within!  Only Mary and Pastor David Whitmore attended the very first Homecoming in 1958 held in an abandoned warehouse in Lee Park.

I’ve always wondered what Mary was like way back then.  I assume only slightly more feisty than the fearless Mary that we encountered on a weekly basis!

Mary may have been severely disabled but she took no flak from anyone.  I chuckle when I recall a recent interaction she had with a trendy young gent who brings his rock band to serenade us Baptists. Though unintelligible to anyone but the rare handful of folk who spoke “Mary-ese” it was clear that if God hadn’t bleeped her speech then verily we would have!  From what little I knew about her very tough life I could never muster the restraint and dignity she displayed despite her lifetime of affliction.

When I was in seminary at DTS (www.dts.edu) I did a Final Project in an attempt to answer the vexing questions I had about Disability Ministry:  what does it look like?

Shamefully I admit that I was seeking a “successful” Ministry Model to help take my feeble ministry efforts worldwide.  Though I did not deserve an answer to that very selfish question our Awesome Lord & Saviour Jesus Christ graciously supplied an answer anyway:

It looks like Mary.  Or Earl.  Or Arvella or Laurie & Sammy or the dozen or so people with disabilities we’ve known  ever-so-briefly before they made their final journey Home.

This morning I listened to I Can Only Imagine with a renewed sense of joy.  Because at least for Mary I do not need to ponder whether she falls to her knees  or whether she dances for Jesus,

She dances!  Oh yes!  She dances.