The Tablecloth
The brand new
pastor and his wife, newly assigned to their first ministry to reopen a church
in suburban Brooklyn, arrived in early October excited about their
opportunities. When they saw their church, it was very run down and needed much
work. They set a goal to have everything done in time to have their first
service on Christmas Eve.
They worked hard, repairing pews, plastering walls, painting, etc, and on
December 18 were ahead of schedule and just about finished. On December 19 a
terrible tempest - a driving rainstorm hit the area and lasted for two days. On
the 21st, the pastor went over to the church. His heart sank when he saw that
the roof had leaked, causing a large area of plaster about 20 feet by 8 feet to
fall off the front wall of the sanctuary just behind the pulpit, beginning about
head high. The pastor cleaned up the mess on the floor, and not knowing what
else to do but postpone the Christmas Eve service, headed home.
On the way he noticed that a local business was having a flea market type sale
for charity so he stopped in. One of the items was a beautiful, handmade, ivory
colored, crocheted tablecloth with exquisite work, fine colors and a Cross
embroidered right in the center. It was just the right size to cover up the hole
in the front wall. He bought it and headed back to the church. By this time it
had started to snow. An older woman running from the opposite direction was
trying to catch the bus.. She missed it. The pastor invited her to wait in the
warm church for the next bus 45 minutes later. She sat in a pew and paid no
attention to the pastor while he got a ladder, hangers, etc., to put up the
tablecloth as a wall tapestry. The pastor could hardly believe how beautiful it
looked and it covered up the entire problem area. Then he noticed the woman
walking down the center aisle. Her face was like a sheet.. 'Pastor,' she asked,
'where did you get that tablecloth?' The pastor explained. The woman asked him
to check the lower right corner to see if the initials EBG were crocheted into
it there. They were. These were the initials of the woman, and she had made this
tablecloth 35 years before, in Austria. The woman could hardly believe it as the
pastor told how he had just gotten the Tablecloth. The woman explained that
before the war she and her husband were well-to-do people in Austria . When the
Nazis came, she was forced to leave. Her husband was going to follow her the
next week. He was captured, sent to prison and never saw her husband or her home
again.
The pastor wanted to give her the tablecloth; but she made the pastor keep it
for the church. The pastor insisted on driving her home, that was the least he
could do.. She lived on the other side of Staten Island and was only in Brooklyn
for the day for a housecleaning job. What a wonderful service they had on
Christmas Eve. The church was almost full. The music and the spirit were great.
At the end of the service, the pastor and his wife greeted everyone at the door
and many said that they would return.
One older man, whom the pastor recognized from the neighborhood continued to sit
in one of the pews and stare, and the pastor wondered why he wasn't leaving. The
man asked him where he got the tablecloth on the front wall because it was
identical to one that his wife had made years ago when they lived in Austria
before the war and how could there be two tablecloths so much alike. He told the
pastor how the Nazis came, how he forced his wife to flee for her safety and he
was supposed to follow her, but he was arrested and put in a prison.. He never
saw his wife or his home again all the 35 years in between.
The pastor asked him if he would allow him to take him for a little ride. They
drove to Staten Island and to the same house where the pastor had taken the
woman three days earlier. He helped the man climb the three flights of stairs to
the woman's apartment, knocked on the door and he saw the greatest Christmas
reunion he could ever imagine.
True Story by Pastor Rob Reid
Who says God does not work in mysterious ways.
This story or another version of it has been included in several well-known
publications over the years. Though some people assume it's untrue, you can read
the analysis for yourself at:
http://www.snopes.com/glurge/tablecloth.asp.
.The embroidery
image on this page comes from
http://www.needlenthread.com,
and can be purchased from them if you desire to stitch it.
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