Today I was taking family to the airport, and prior to getting on the expressway I was jockeying for lead position on the road, typical of us agressive Michigan drivers. At one point I was trying to get past this white Subaru Outback, amid a lot of traffic. As I passed, I glanced to my left and noticed a young Asian man driving. Really didn't think much of it... and proceeded down the expressway... and basically this car & driver was out of sight and mind.
15 minutes later, and discovering the plane would be late, we decided to stop for food. A Wendy's and Chili's caught our eye, but we missed the exit. The consensus was that we'd stop at a Wendy's... an infrequent dining choice for us, but we made the additional effort to backtrack from the next exit to pursue the square-pattied hamburgers that have lost some attention since the founder has passed. Mind you, we are in the city, amidst a plethora of possibilities, exits at every mile, and a nearby mall food court as an option. At this point you shoul be wondering where this story is going.
I entered the Wendy's, and unexpectedly noticed a young Asian man sitting alone (one of only two diners present), enjoying his Wendy's double. Focused only on the food before him, he seemed intent not to consider anyone else present in the place. It struck me immediately that he had about the same profile of the young Asian man I saw for a fracion of a second as I glanced at the driver of the white Subaru Outback about 15 miles up the expressway. Sure enough, as I looked out the window just beyond him... a white Subaru Outback was one of the two other cards in the nearly empty parking lot.
Clearly he wasn't following me, as he arrived there first, after I had shot ahead of him, then missed the exit, only to rediscover him... and it wasn't like I was glancing over at every driver on the road, and noticing every car... color and make to boot.
I spent the meal wondering if there was some reason for this, and if God was speaking to me to reach out... offer to sit with him, even to just say hello. As I was with my young daughter, the socially embedded mantra of "don't talk to strangers" was my subconscious justification for not being a Christian witness. I attempted to look for an opening... perhaps to catch a glance as he looked around the room to at least offer a friendly "hello." But he remained intent to fully ignore his surroundings even as he may have perceived my intense curiosity as I looked for that opportunity.
I rarely believe that anything like this is just pure cooincidence. We are all members of the body of Christ, and God works through us... if we let Him. Yet he proceeded to complete his lunch and leave, unaware of the internal struggle, and my failure in the virtues of both charity & courage to reach out. How much further I have to go to live up to the example of Pier Giorgio Frassati.
So young Asian man in the white Subaru Outback who stopped at Wendy's in Dearborn today, I pray that God's blessings may reach you in some other way since I failed as a vehicle of His grace.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment