Saint Ruby Yenkala

I have noticed that there are people in this world that seem to change everyone around them. It seems like merely speaking with them, or shaking their hand, is enough to transform you. I believe that this is what Paul meant by a "fruit of the Spirit."

Saint Ruby Yenkala was not always sunshine and roses, not always happiness. Sometimes, she was frustrating and infuriating, but she changed us, and I think, she changed us for the better, and she changed us for good.

She was a white woman of Jesse Helm's generation who thought nothing of worshiping with, embracing, and helping people regardless of their color. She was a woman who should, by all rights, been sitting in the back of the church, keeping her mouth shut except to responsively pray or sing. And yet, ever since she walked in the door of Northminster, she was standing in church, telling us what was needed in the community, giving us the good news and the bad news. Ruby was Christ's eyes and ears and hands and feet, and she drew many of us closer to Christ, which means closer to those who are lost and forgotten in this world.

Miss Ruby died a little more than a week ago. She leaves a hole in the world, as all saints do when they die, an open spot where there should be someone. The announcements are too quiet now, but we know from Ruby's witness that the emptiness is not empty, the silence is not silent. As Christ said, our mourning is blessing, and we will be comforted.