The Gatekeeper: Thomas

I met a man this week named Thomas. He lives next door
to a Church where we have a contract to clear brush and trees along a small
brook bordering the church’s property. The view here is as
remarkable as this man, Thomas. The day we began work, he appeared.
There are things that happen to us in life; people we meet who stamp enduring
memories on us. Thomas is one of those people who touched my soul by his
simple mind and humble spirit that no doubt had been won through 32 years of
social hardship. Yet, this simple man wrote the introductory paragraph to
an unexpected chapter in my life book of unforgettable memories. I’d like
to share just a snippet of “What happened to me last week” to hopefully give
you a window into a blessing God gave me through Thomas.

Thomas lives next door, and up the holler from Grandview
Church of God. Two days ago my crew and I began clearing the brush from
the stream. About 30 minutes after work began on the first day, Thomas
appeared. He is of average height and build, and looks like a normal East
Tennessean country boy. I was running my Bobcat and just getting started
clearing brush and moving dirt when I first saw him walk onto the Church
property. At first, he looked like a neighbor wanting to ask me a question as
he approached. In construction, you always look for job opportunities
from nearby neighbors. And I hoped he wanted to talk about me doing some
work for him when I finished the church. Times are hard now and we do
what we can. But when our eyes made contact, he drew his hand up and
pointed it at me like a cowboy drawing a six shooter in a gun fight…and then he
smiled and yelled over the roar of my engine, “You gonna drive that
Bobcat?” I was already driving the Bobcat. This was a stupid
question. I’d heard it a thousand times. It was like
one you would hear on Sunday morning by a burnt out ole Church member whose
only chance of having a personal relationship in life is through Church
attendance. I shouted back a witty response, “Yes!”, I said. I
mean, how else could I answer. His next question: “YOU LIKE
DRIVIN’ THAT BOBCAT?” My answer: “YES!” I thought, “Who
is this guy?” I decided it was not a potential client so I tried to
ignore him and went back to work with my running my machine to scrape the
ground. But Thomas didn’t leave and after a couple minutes, the guy
started working with us. My small crew became alert thinking maybe he wanted to
steal something. I thought, “What does this guy want?” After
a couple of hours of work, we realized that Thomas just wasn’t quite right in
the head. He kept making really corny jokes and gestures as he worked. I
worried he might expect me to pay him. Thomas kept working.

About an hour after Thomas joined us, he came walking at a
quick pace toward me and waved his hand for me to back off the machine so he
could talk to me. I throttled back. He said, “I got a wagon and a
trailer that can carry this brush over there where you want it stacked.
You want me to go get it?” “You have a what?”, I said. “I got a
wagon and trailer that can carry all of this brush”. Now when I tell you
we had to clear the bank of a stream, I’m talkin about a lot of brush, probably
ten pickup truck loads plus ten huge tree trunks and all the limbs. “You
got a tractor or truck to pull the wagon and trailer?”. “No, I pull it”, Thomas
answered with a huge wad of chewin tobacco in his cheek. Now in my mind I
could not really grasp what kind of equipment he had. But I figured he might be
connected to the church and could only help and not hurt our production.
“Sure!”, I said with a false enthusiastic grin. “We can use all the help
we can get!” Thomas ran off and few minutes later appeared on the Church
parking lot pulling a rusty kid’s wagon with a two-wheeled moving dolly tied to
it by pieces of rope. On the wagon was a metal coffee thermos, gloves, l
short piece of ¼ inch metal chain, and a 6 inch diameter spare tire tied down
with a short piece of braided rope. I thought, “What?” But Thomas
went to work picking up brush and stacking it on his wagon. I
wondered how long he would stay.

My other workers Stephen and Scott kept their distance
expecting Thomas was up to no good. I had similar thoughts. And he
kept making corny gestures about the Bobcat. I could tell, Thomas liked
the heavy equipment. Like most men who are attracted naturally to big
powerful machinery, Thomas enjoyed the atmosphere of powerful construction
where big scoops of stuff are pushed around and I knew this guy was going to be
with us for a while. On the second day of work, all hell broke loose.

We had to cut down two big birch trees that grew along the
stream but leaned menacingly over the metal roof of the church. These
trees had to come down or the Church risked having them fall on the roof from
high winds or heavy snow and ice precipitation. This was the kind of job
most contractors in good times steered clear of. The risk of felling these
trees onto the roof of the church was great and in good economic times these
jobs are normally passed over. I came to work that morning worried about
felling the trees and was in no mood for play. But Thomas was as
lighthearted and hardworking as the day before. We fell the first tree
with no problem but the second tree almost brought disaster for me and
company.

When we cut the second tree, we had a rope tied to the upper
branches to give leverage and steering during the fell. But the rope broke just
as the final cut opposite the wedge was made. Quickly we tied the rope
off to a nearby tree trunk to secure it while I figured out how to escape disaster.
Adrenaline created a metal taste in my mouth as I sought a way out of the
predicament. At any moment the tree could fall onto the roof of the
church inflicting great damage and probably destroying my business.
During the 30 minute crisis, Thomas came up to me asking, “Boss, where do you
want me to be?” He was worried about the tree falling on him!
But I knew he was handicapped and so I told him, each time, a place to stay
that was far away from the tree. “Who is this guy?”, I
thought. My other workers were in panic mode as well but they knew where
to be safe. “Who is this guy?”, I kept thinking.

For four days we worked at the Church clearing the brush
along the stream. Each day, Thomas appeared and did everything I asked him to
do with his dolly tied to his wagon, his coffee thermos, his short piece of
chain, and his spare tire. So, let me tell you about Thomas.

Thomas is what professionals call, Mentally
Challenged. Common folk would say, “Retarded” or “Dumb” to describe
someone like him. I have a sister, Pam, who has cerebral
palsy. Pam is two years older than me and growing up, I saw firsthand how
cruel kids can be toward someone who is handicapped. Adults can be just as
cruel only more subtle about it. My two workers shunned him from the
beginning not wanting to be bothered by him. But Thomas is the
picture of what Jesus describes in Matthew 5:3 as “Poor in spirit” or
“humble”. You don’t have to be dumb to be “Poor in spirit”. God
promises us that all who are “Poor in Spirit” will inherit the Kingdom of
Heaven. And not all handicapped people are a picture of what Jesus would
have us to be. But in this case, Thomas was a jewel of a person and being
near him encouraged me to try and be a better man….more like him:
Thomas.

I believe that the Gates of Heaven will be guarded by men
like Thomas who, on this earth, is mocked and ridiculed. But in heaven,
his abundance of humility and grace is earning him the right to be one of
Heaven’s Gatekeepers.