Encounter

A few Sunday’s ago, I ran into one of our former students. We were on our way home from church and stopping at the mini-mart to pick up supplies. I was walking across the parking lot among the traffic, cars, and the people. A young man was calling my name and walking towards me. I recognized him but just couldn’t remember his name. He quickly updated me on his life since graduation while his friend kept telling him to hurry up, people passed by and I started to feel uncomfortable. Things were not well for him.

He celebrated his 18th birthday with a drug arrest, he has a child, he’s confused, and he’s helpless and maybe even hopeless.

If you were approached by a family member, a friend, a neighbor who was reaching out for help… mentally, emotionally and spiritually battered and abused; what would you do?

His court date was in a few days, his child was living apart from him, he was moving from house to house, lacks a job… What would you do? What would you say to this young man?

I froze and gave him the safest and easiest answer… “I’ll pray for you”. He thanked me and we went our separate ways. The cock crowed. The man lay on the side of the road and I made a commitment to pray for him when I was in the safety of my home. I did the least I could do to the least of them. God forgive me.

My commitment is to find this man and respond to God, with or without words, in thought and deed.