Saint Anonymouse

After serving ten years as Hospice Chaplain for Sanford, I am retiring. Let me take this final devotional to explain why I often sing a particular song for my patients. Years ago as a single man, I was working as a mail clerk in downtown Chicago. To save money for my ongoing education, I found the cheapest rent possible: a boarding house in Humboldt Park. My room was ten feet by twenty, with a window at one end. There was just enough room for a single bed, a small dresser, and a tiny desk. The residents shared a bathroom where shower sandals were a health necessity. The common kitchen smelled of rancid grease that almost dripped from the walls. When the light was turned on, cockroaches scurried to wherever roaches hide. One day I had taken the train to the downtown "Loop." Though surrounded by a crowd of people, I was all alone. And very depressed. I trudged to the office building with my head down. As I walked, I saw a sparrow--a dead sparrow--lying in the middle of the side...