"That was a great party!

”What a great dinner!”

“Wasn’t he a great speaker?”

The word great...we use it to describe just about anything we find particularly significant, don’t we? I know I do. But a few years ago, I was absolutely astounded by a lesson I learned about greatness. It has stayed with me to this day. I recount it whenever presented with an opportunity. Is now good for you?

The occasion was the final event of a military conference my husband and I were attending. We always looked forward to it prior to loading the car with our bags and heading home. This time, it would be more than something we looked forward to, it would be something we would be hard pressed to ever forget.

There were two guests listed on that Sunday morning’s prayer breakfast program. The first was a distinguished former Air Force pilot, a highly decorated general whose credentials invite a lengthy introduction. The main intrigue of his biographical sketch concerned the seven and a half years, ace flier Robin Risner had been held prisoner by the Viet Cong after they had so ungraciously shot him down for a second time over North Vietnam. The anticipated story left our ears at peaked readiness. Forty-five minutes later, we were still hungering for more of the incredulous details.

As he told of a secret code tapped on filthy walls of his three foot cell which were his only means of communication with other prisoners, we guests became vicarious participants in the intense struggles he faced daily. We understood the necessity for a source greater than his fiercely determined will to survive. He had found it and was sharing it with us...a simple but profound faith in God. His faith grew and prayer deepened during inhumane torture sessions by his enemies. He did more than endure. He even overcame, by God’s grace, the desire to take revenge. His testimony shook tears loose from even the most seasoned veterans present.

When he finished, we stood to applaud, giving an ovation not only to the hero Robin Risner but to Almighty God who had filled that hellish prison with His awesome glory. It was not a short standing ovation!

After seemingly endless applause, we sat down for the brief introduction to our next guest. His credentials did not take long. His name was Andy Casteel, a twenty year old young man who worked with younger children as a special assistant to the principal of a local Christian school. He also had Down’s syndrome.

We had barely recovered our composure from the tempest of emotions released by Robin’s story when Andy took the platform. Few of us in the crowd could have guessed what we were about to experience. There stood Andy, head meekly bowed, hands gently folded, shyly waiting for his cue. Andy’s father, who had introduced him, walked over to a well-used cassette recorder, and turned on the music. As we heard the first notes of the “Lord’s Prayer”, Andy began signing the words being sung on the cassette tape.

There was what I can only describe as a “holy stillness” as Andy performed for us. For three minutes, he shared the greatest skill he had ever mastered with nothing less than all of his heart. We were privileged for the second time that morning to tangibly witness the glory of God. It was a sobering moment. When he finished, we were too overwhelmed to look up at one another. If we had, I honestly think that there would have been outbursts of wailing. And, I am certain there was not a person present who, at that precise second, did not ask God’s forgiveness for ever giving the excuse, “I can’t” anytime in our lives.

It was difficult to distinguish Andy’s performance from what was obviously a touch of God’s love poured through his servant’s fingers and expressions on his face. We had just seen a great performance that was the result of an intimacy with God which, I dare say, few of us Christians have been privileged to experience.

As we stood for yet another lengthy ovation, no one spoke about which presentation had been the most impressive or the greatest. There was no need to. Two guests; two incredible men imprisoned by circumstances beyond their control and tested by adversity; two Christians of different abilities using what each had been given to maximum capacity...it was a contrast in greatness with no comparison.

Copyright © by Sharon L. Patterson Share