In Vanishing Grace I describe people I call grace-dispensers. You don’t have to be a professional, or educated, or especially skilled, to be a good grace-dispenser. A new book by John Ortberg, the pastor of Menlo Park Presbyterian Church in California, tells of an ordinary woman in San Francisco who makes an extraordinary dispenser of grace. I’ll let John tell this story as a guest columnist:
… There was a front-page article in the San Francisco Chronicle about a metro-transit operator named Linda Wilson-Allen. She loves the people who ride her bus. She knows the regulars. She learns their names. She will wait for them if they’re late and then make up the time later on her route.
A woman in her eighties named Ivy had some heavy grocery bags and was struggling with them. So Linda got out of her bus driver’s seat to carry Ivy’s grocery bags onto the bus. Now Ivy lets other buses pass her stop so she can ride on Linda’s bus.
Linda saw a woman named Tanya in a bus shelter. She could tell Tanya was new to the area. She could tell she was lost. It was almost Thanksgiving, so Linda said to Tanya, “You’re out here all by yourself. You don’t know anybody. Come on over for Thanksgiving and kick it with me and the kids.” Now they’re friends.
The reporter who wrote the article rides Linda’s bus every day. He said Linda has built such a little community of blessing on that bus that passengers offer Linda the use of their vacation homes. They bring her potted plants and floral bouquets. When people found out she likes to wear scarves to accessorize her uniforms, they started giving them as presents to Linda. …
Think about what a thankless task driving a bus can look like in our world: cranky passengers, engine breakdowns, traffic jams, gum on the seats. You ask yourself, How does she have this attitude? “Her mood is set at 2:30 a.m. when she gets down on her knees to pray for 30 minutes,” the Chronicle states. “‘There is a lot to talk about with the Lord,’ says Wilson-Allen, a member of Glad Tidings Church in Hayward.”
When she gets to the end of her line, she always says, “That’s all. I love you. Take care.” Have you ever had a bus driver tell you, “I love you”? People wonder, Where can I find the Kingdom of God? I will tell you where. You can find it on the #45 bus riding through San Francisco. People wonder, Where can I find the church? I will tell you. Behind the wheel of a metro transit vehicle.
We invited Linda to speak at our church. People with all kinds of Silicon Valley dreams were inspired to standing ovations by a woman who drives a bus. They stood in line by the dozens afterward to talk with her. For the door on the #45 bus opens into the Kingdom of God.
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John Ortberg, All the Places to Go (Carol Stream, IL: Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., 2015), pp. 70-72.
Well said, Kay. Maybe you should considering writing a book!
–Philip
With all due respect and admiration (this seems to be the only way I could find to contact you), the study materials for What is So Amazing About Grace is so confusing. Our Bible Study decided to do the DVD and the book and the “study guide.” Everyone except the member who ordered the DVD and “study guide” set on Amazon got the correct materials. Now 15 or so of us have had the annoyance and inconvenience of returning and repurchasing the correct “study book” that goes with the DVD. There are two “study guides” that have the same look on the cover; one is a called Study Guide and one is called Participants Guide. It was a fiasco for us to discover that most had ordered the incorrect book without knowing. I take responsibility for not seeing this prior to everyone ordering, but I feel that there needs to be better clarification and in the future avoid having different materials look so similar. We are off to a rocky start but hope that grace will fill our hearts and lead us into a worthwhile study of God’s Word.
You’re right–it’s confusing! We produced the Study Guide mainly for individual or group study shortly after the book came out. Then the publisher decided to do a video series, and produced new guides, as you’ve frustratingly discovered. I’m sorry about the hassle. I’m passing along your suggestion to the publisher. I’ll send you a private email separately.
–Philip
Linda is the Mom of a dear friend of mine. In fact her entire is family to us, even though we moved out of state. She is the epitome of disciple. She raised her children the same way. Each and everyone of them have hearts for God, not to mention are absolutely amazing people. The apples truly came from this beautiful woman’s tree!
This story of the bus driver who is nice to everyone is the type of story I like the best. She is the type of healthy I want to be. I honestly feel peace whenever I read stories like this and feel angst when I try to follow a complicated or judgmental logic of how to live.
Mr. Yancey, I have been coming to your blog every day and you are such a blessing. This time period has helped me.
I realize more clearly that the churches that I was in were doing processes of thought that were making things so much harder for me. I wish this woman had a church. I would stand at the door and give hugs, which was one of my ministry jobs at my old church. (The shyest person in the room, but I liked giving hugs.)
I am going to move out of your blog and let you work on your memoirs now. Your mind has helped my mind to understand things better, but I already knew that might happen. That is why I came here.