A knock on the door.
When someone knocks on your door, what do you do?
Imagine you are having a big dinner with 20 neighbours, when there is a knock on the door. A knock on the door. Someone knocks on the door and breaks the silence.
When I was a child, I was told not to answer the door when someone knocks because you have no idea who is behind that door. A seven-year-old would always play a ‘knock-knock’ game with me. When having a conversation, she would say, "knock, knock". I would need to answer immediately, "no one’s here", even if I am
right here, standing
right next to her.
A knock on the door. People who are in need knock on the door, but they do not receive an answer because we are taught not to open a door to a stranger.
A knock on the door.
The person who knocks on your door could be anyone: a young woman who asks you to tell her something about your hometown, an old man who begs you for money, a child who simply wants to say “hi” to you, a group of people who wants to talk to you about Jesus, or even your new neighbour who wants to invite you over for dinner.
You know someone knocks on your door because you are the only person with a wooden door.
A knock on the door.
With a knock on the door, you have a few seconds to decide whether you are going to open it or not.
A knock on the door.
You could be the one who gives hope to the person who is waiting at the door.
Dr. Mary Jo Leddy is a writer, theologian, and social activist, and was the Sawatsky Lecture speaker at the University of Waterloo this year. She is the author of seven books, including
At the Border Called Hope: Where Refugees Are Neighbours (1997) and
The Other Face of God: When the Stranger Calls Us Home (2011). Dr. Leddy spoke at Conrad Grebel University College last week.
Dr. Leddy told her story about a knock on the door.
It was on a Wednesday evening. Sitting at the table that was right in front of her, I could see an older lady standing in front of a wooden desk, speaking into the microphone. Her crisp, blue eyes with vivid reflections. Perhaps it was the light gleaming off her eyes or some tears that held the dearest of stories. I wouldn’t be able to tell you what it was about, but what I can tell you is that her tales made me feel like I was a little child again, basking in the innocence of childhood. It was as if I needed someone to knock on me to wake me up.
Mary Jo lived in one of four temporary houses with a small, quaint backyard in the middle of the complex. These houses were for refugees who were new to Canada and they could live there for a year to adapt to life in Canada.
As a writer, Mary Jo was in a writing group. Once, it was her turn to host the group for dinner with twenty to thirty people. She spent the whole day preparing a meal, a big meal, a sumptuous meal.
Waiting.
She was in one of the temporary houses.
She was waiting for the knocks on the door.
No one came.
She called her friend and asked, "Where’s everybody?".
"The event is tomorrow."
And now, she was standing in front of the tables with all of the food. No one came. No one knocked on her door. No one.
No one knocked on the door.
Rather than wasting all the food she cooked and her efforts, she went to other temporary houses around her and asked people and their friends to enjoy the meal together.
Around twenty people gathered in her house. Not expecting anyone else to knock on the door, they started having the marvelous meal when someone knocked on her door.
A knock on the door.
A knock on the door and Mary went to the door.
A knock on the door.
There was a man with his suitcase.
"Hola, hola", the man said.
"Hola… ", Mary replied, hesitatingly.
"Hola, you’re expecting me!" the man smiled.
It was his first day coming to Canada and he was told to have a meal in this house.
Mary did not know how to answer.
"Yes, I guess we are…"
Peaking through the door and seeing the people and giant heaps food on the tables, he asked with excitement.
"Did you make all of this for me?"
"I guess we did..."
He smiled. It was the brightest smile she had ever seen.
A knock on the door. Mary did not expect that a knock on the door could be such a joy to her and her neighbors that very evening. A knock on the door.
A knock on the door.
It was an April evening when the group sang the only Spanish song that they knew for the man who knocked on the door, even though it was well past Christmas.
"Feliz Navidad, Feliz Navidad, Feliz Navidad… I wanna wish you a Merry Christmas, I wanna wish you a Merry Christmas…"
A knock on the door. The joy. The gratitude.
A knock on the door.
It is all unexpected when someone knocks on the door and bring in such happiness and joy.
“The minute refugees have a face and a name, something human happens, and people invariably respond with decency, tolerance, and generosity.”, she said.
The food were cold but the house could not be any warmer. It was not Christmas but a knock on the door ended with the man’s house bustling with noise and excitement just like in Christmas.
Photo credit:
Laughter, by Pete Stacey
Ask, Seek, Knock, by
Ministry to Children