It had always been a time of great celebration when all four generations had gathered at Hazel’s house, but this time was different. Barbara had been there for the last three weeks, taking her mother back and forth to the doctor. By the time Hazel’s granddaughter, Deb, had arrived with her twin girls the doctor had already announced that there was nothing else he could do. Now Deb wished she had left the girls home with their dad, but it was so natural for the twin four-year olds to come with her to visit their great grandmother that Deb never even thought about leaving them behind.
Even with her advanced age, Hazel had always taken great delight when the four generations of girls had gotten together. She called them “Great Grannie’s Gang of Girls.” Earl, Barbara’s husband and Rich, Deb’s husband were always welcome, of course. But they knew that they were the odd men out around Great Grannie’s Gang of Girls.
What great fun the gang had together. There were always endless tea parties where all the girls dressed up in Hazel’s old hats and scarves. Tori, the oldest of the twins, always started the parties by singing one of her songs, and Abby always gave the blessing before they ate. It was always the same. “The Lord is my shepherd,” she would say, and everyone added their “Amen.” And they used the same child-size tea set that Hazel had used when she was a child. It was real china! There were a few nicks and scratches, but not a single piece had been broken over nearly a century of use! Deb had lived in fear that her girls would be the first ones to break something in the set, but they had not managed it yet. When Deb suggested substituting a plastic set, Hazel reminded her that the twins were not nearly as klutzy as Deb had been as a child. “If you couldn’t break it, nobody can!” Hazel argued, and so the tea parties went on with real china.
They loved to play cards together too. The twins had learned Old Maid and Go Fish, and had begun learning to play Hearts. Tori insisted on always being the one to crank the special card shuffler they had. And while her sister cranked the shuffler, Abby would point her finger at each of the adults, and state emphatically and very seriously, “No cheating!” because the three adults kept accusing each other of cheating. What grand times they had laughing together and teasing one another.
Great Grannie’s Gang of Girls loved to bake cookies together too. And what a mess they would make! Flour, colored sugar, sprinkles, and the decorative silver “bb’s” would end up everywhere, all over the kitchen and all over the four generations of girls. They laughed, and told stories on each other, and just had a great time together. Of course, Earl and Rich had the uncanny ability to always show up when the first tray of cookies came out of the oven, just to offer their “taste-testing skills” to the gang of girls. They would get booed and shooed out of the kitchen, but they would also get fresh-from-the-oven cookies to take with them too.
But today was different. Deb tried to explain to her twins that Great Grannie was very sick, and so they needed to be very quiet so she could rest. The twins were very quiet for a while, but then they showed up at the door to their great grandmother’s bedroom. Tori and Abby both had their arms full of books they wanted to read to Great Grannie. After all their mother had always read lots of books to them whenever they were sick. So they had come to do the same for Great Grannie.
Barbara intercepted the little helpers, and took them into the living room where they had a long talk about what was happening to Great Grannie. They cried together, and talked some more. And finally, at Tori’s suggestion, they decided that they should skip reading the books, and just recite the 23rd Psalm for Great Grannie. The twins had been memorizing this piece of scripture, with their mother’s coaching, as a surprise for Great Grannie. Deb had told them that this was her favorite scripture, and they were going to recite it for her on her birthday that was still a month away.
“We can do it, if you and mommy say it with us,” Abby said.
As they entered the bedroom, Deb was wiping her grandmother’s face with a cool wash cloth. This roused Hazel a bit, and she opened her eyes. She smiled when she saw the twins come into the room.
“Mom,” Barbara said, “the twins have been memorizing some Bible passages, and they want to share one with you.”
Deb knew immediately what passage they wanted to share, but felt she needed to add a caution, “They have only been working on it for two weeks, so I don’t know if they can get through it without a little help. But they really do want to share it with you.”
“We are supposed to say it with them,” Barbara told Deb.
With that, Abby stepped forward, turned, and pointed at her sister, her grandmother and her mother while saying, “A one, a two, a three,” and kept waving her arm, conducting the others as they recited the scripture together.
The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want.
He makes me lie down in green pastures;
he leads me beside still waters;
he restores my soul.
He leads me in right paths for his name’s sake.
Even though I walk through the darkest valley,
I fear no evil.
for you are with me;
your rod and your staff they comfort me.
You prepare a table before me,
in the presence of my enemies;
you anoint my head with oil,
my cup overflows.
Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life,
and I shall dwell in the house of the Lord my whole life long.”
“My favorite scripture,” Hazel said softly to the rest of the gang.
“And I don’t know if Deb and I really needed to help them,” Barbara added. “They seemed to know the words pretty well, and the conductor helped too.”
“Thank you for that,” Hazel said. “The Lord really is my shepherd.”
“We know he is your shepherd, Grandma,” Deb said. “He has led you on all the right paths, and you have been a really good example to the rest of your gang.”
Hazel smiled. Then she lifted her hand, and shakily pointed to the other gang members, and said, “And you all are my green pastures and still waters.”
“I don’t know, Grandma, that daughter of yours… I’ve heard some pretty wicked stories about her,” Deb said with an ornery grin on her face. “I don’t know if you can call her a green pasture. And these two catbirds,” she said as she pulled the twins close to her and hugged them both, “sure aren’t still waters. Now, me on the other hand… Well, I think green pastures and still waters describes me perfectly.”
“Oh yeah,” Barbara objected. “I seem to remember a little girl, about the age of the twins, who came running into our living room and said to her father and me, ‘Don’t come in here!’ Then that little girl ran back into her bedroom.”
“Well, there might be one or two exceptions,” Deb responded.
“Maybe more than one or two,” Barbara corrected. “Because that little girl’s father and mother both immediately ran into the bedroom where they were told not to go, and what did they find there? A certain little girl had used her waste basket for a toilet! Now that is not exactly green pastures… but I guess the waters were still.”
“Mommy, did you do that?” Abby questioned.
“Is that why you won’t let us have a wastebasket?” Tori added.
“Darn tootin’! There is no way you guys are getting a wastebasket,” Deb answered. “But let me tell you something about your grandmother, that your great grandmother told me. It seems that your grandmother nearly scared your great grandmother to death when she started dating a guy named Eddie.”
At this point Hazel smiled and raised her hand, stopping the conversation. “Let me correct you, Deb. I was not at all scared about your mother dating that boy. I know that the Lord, my shepherd, carries a big rod and a big staff. Your mother didn’t date that Eddie character for more than a week, before the police arrested him and put him in jail.”
Barbara agreed, “When I found out that he had been burglarizing houses, that did kind of cool my ardor for him.”
“But,” Hazel added, “no matter how many stories you two tell on each other. You are all still my green pastures and still waters. No matter what happened, wars, terrorist bombings, or all the other horrible things that people can do to each other. In good times, in bad times, even in the very worst of times,” Hazel again pointed her shaky hand at her gang, “you all have been my green pastures and still waters. You are the blessing that my good shepherd has provided me. There might have been times when my table was set in the presence of my enemies, but you all have always been my green pastures and still waters. And my cup truly does overflow. Even now, when I face this dark valley ahead, you all are the blessing that our shepherd provides to those who follow him. I fear no evil. Surely goodness and mercy have followed me all the days of my life, and I shall dwell in the house of the Lord forever.”
“Mom,” Barbara said, “the Good Shepherd is the only reason that we would ever let you leave us. As long as you are following him, we know that you are in good hands and are in a good place.”
“Thank you, honey. I’m sticking with him no matter what. But will you do me a favor?”
“Anything,” Barbara answered.
“Please don’t read Psalm 23 at my funeral. I know it is my favorite scripture, but I’ve heard it at too many funerals. People are beginning to think that it is about death. It isn’t a psalm about death. It is a psalm about life, and that life goes on forever.”
The next day Great Grannie’s Gang of Girls lost their ringleader. As requested they did not read the 23rd Psalm at Hazel’s funeral, but all the remaining gang members learned to recite it every morning as they faced each new day. And reciting it always reminded them of a great grandmother, as well as the Shepherd they each were determined to follow on their own paths through this life forever.
Questions for Meditation, Discussion or Preaching
Copyright 2020. Robert D. Ingram, 32746 Jourden Rd., Albany, Ohio 45710 (dr.bobingram@gmail.com). Used by permission.
