My son

Robbie brought me a short devotion he read from his daily

devotional book entitled "My Quiet Time"

printed by Student Discipleship Ministries in Ft. Worth,

Texas. I would like to share it with you.

It was a

story of a mission pastor who was visiting a leper

colony. He would play and sing and he would ask the

people for requests that they liked to sing. There was a

woman who had been keeping her back to the others and

when the requests were being heard, she raised her hand

that had several fingers missing.

As she

turned around her nose, ears and lips were missing also.

The song that she requested was "Count your

Blessings," name them one by one. One of the staff

personnel had asked the pastor if he would ever sing that

song again and he replied, "Yes, but never in the

same way."

While

serving as the post chaplain at South Post Chapel in

Seoul Korea in 1988, I was asked to speak at the morning

worship service at a Presbyterian Blind School. This was

a school that took in blind Koreans and taught them how

to read using the Braille system and schooled them

through high school. They would also teach them the love

that Jesus had for them personally.

I had

prepared my message to preach and as I crossed the Han

River toward the outskirts of Seoul, I felt led to change

my message and to speak on "spiritual

blindness." To speak to a group of blind people and

to have "communion" with them was a most

humbling experience. Not only did these Koreans

enthusiastically sing the great hymns of faith, but the

spirit of Christ was all over their faces.

When I

passed the elements to each of the students they would

smile and hold out their hands to receive "in

remembrance" the body and blood of Jesus. Since they

were blind, they would have to wait for your touch to

receive the elements. The elements that I served these

wonderfully brave Christians were wet from my tears that

I couldn't stop from flowing.

I had come

to minister to them and it was I who was ministered to.

Now

whenever we have communion in our church, I am reminded

of those Korean Christians and for me communion is never

the same.

Thank God

every day for salvation through Christ and for the

thousands of blessings we hold.

He who has

ears let him hear. Blessed are those who believe and have

not seen.

The Rev.

Dr. Knox Herndon is the pastor of His House Community

Church (SBC) and a substitute school teacher in the

Fayette County School System, and a former Army chaplain.

The church is currently meeting in the American Legion

Log Cabin across from the fountain on the Square in

Fayetteville. Prayer line (770)-719-2365; e-Mail [email protected]