An old Scotsman was quite ill and the family called for their minister. As he entered the sick room and sat down, he noticed another chair on the opposite side of the bed, a chair which had also been drawn close.
The pastor said, “Well, Donald, I see I’m not your first visitor for the day.”
The old man looked up, was puzzled for a moment, then recognized from the nod of the head that the pastor had noticed the empty chair.
“Well, Pastor, I’ll tell you about that chair. Many years ago, I found it quite difficult to pray, so one day I shared this problem with my pastor at the time. He told me not to worry about kneeling or about placing myself in some pious posture. Instead, he said, ‘Just sit down, put a chair opposite you, and imagine Jesus sitting in it. Then talk with him as you would a friend.’” The old Scot then added, “I’ve been doing that ever since.”
A short time later the daughter of the Scot called the pastor. When he answered, she informed him that her father had died very suddenly and she was quite shaken, for she had no idea death was so near.
Then she continued, “I had just gone to lie down for an hour or two, for he seemed to be sleeping so comfortably. When I went back, he was dead.” Then she added thoughtfully, “Except now his hand was on the empty chair at the side of the bed. Isn’t that strange?”
And the minister said, “No, it’s not strange at all.”
- F W Boreham, 'The Green Chair', Rubble and Roseleaves. Also told by Leslie Weatherhead, The Transforming Friendship: A Book about Jesus and Ourselves (New York: Abingdon Classics, 1990), 46-7.
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