Dorothy Gurney is not a famous name to most people. Even if you sing the old hymns, you might not recall her name, but her story is worth telling.  One Sunday morning in 1883, Dorothy was singing hymns with her sister.  They had just finished singing, “O Strength and Stay”, when her sister mentioned that it was a great tune; however, the words were inappropriate for Dorothy’s upcoming wedding.  Her sister stated, “What was the use of having a sister (Dorothy) who composes poetry if she cannot write new words to a favourite tune?”  It was true that Dorothy did write poetry. Perhaps, you may recall her poem that you find in many gardens entitled, “God’s Garden”.
“The kiss of the sun for pardon,
The song of the birds for mirth,
One is nearer God’s heart in a garden
Than anywhere else on earth.”
Dorothy excused herself and headed to the family library and started to compose. In fifteen minutes she returned with a hymn that has been a classic ever since. It is the perfect wedding hymn about the perfect love of God.
“O perfect love, all human thought transcending,
Lowly we kneel in prayer before Thy throne,
That theirs may be the love which knows no ending,
Whom Thou forever dost join in one.”
Now, I know that you are going to say that nothing is perfect if it is fashioned by humans, but an event last week might illustrate that even in our imperfection, we can manifest God’s perfect love. I have been a Detroit Tiger baseball fan for many years, and when I heard that Detroit pitcher, Armando Galarraga, was denied a perfect game by a bad call by the umpire, I was annoyed. All the video replays of the “should have been” final out indicated that the base runner was out at first base by a stride. Yet, for some reason the umpire, Jim Joyce, called him safe. It destroyed Galarraga’s perfect game, and it almost certainly affected his future salary as a professional baseball player. The umpire reviewed the play and clearly saw that he was in error. He was so upset with himself that he publicly apologized for his mistake.
Strangely, the reaction of the Detroit pitcher was subdued. An injustice was done, but he just moved on and got the next batter out. Detroit won the game. The next day, the same umpire was calling the game. The Detroit manager sent Galarraga out to the umpire with that game’s line-up, and the two men shook hands. The world would witness how people are to be gracious to one another. The truth is that we are not perfect, but in our imperfection, we can exhibit the grace that God grants each of us. Armando Galarraga showed us the strength of his character, and that is of greater worth than a perfect game on his record. Perhaps, we should all look for the opportunities that God gives us in our life to demonstrate kindness, mercy, and forgiveness to others. The character of the whole world could change. We might not see life as a game, but as a poem.