Thursday, October 22, 2009

Good Times with John and B.I.G.


So I'm out on the bike the other day and I get lost and end up stopping a Sheetz for some "Cupoccino" to warm up.  As I'm standing there in the warm sun enjoying the day and good beverage, these two guys get out of this beat-up old 80's vintage Buick two door and walk over to me.  They began a conversation with me, or should I say two conversations?

You see the one guy, whose name is John, begins asking me all kinds of questions...most of them twice!  He asked my name and told me his and we talked for like 20 minutes about the bike, his job, life stuff.  It was pretty obvious that he wasn't the "brightest bulb in the pack." 

Then there was BIG...short for Brain Injury Guy.  He began having a completely separate conversation with me all the while I was talking to John.  He told me how glad he was that I wore a helmet because he had suffered a brain injury in a car accident when he was 19 and how horrible it was.  John probably wasn't too smart, but BIG made him look like a Harvard guy.  BIG told me about only having one eye, and that his head hurt so bad on sunny days that even that "vicadin stuff" didn't help.  And he went on and on, as John was going on and on...

Finally, they said goodbye...John called me by name...and they walked over to their car (out of which they sold frozen fish...for a living...I swear I'm not making this up!).  John got in the passenger seat and BIG got in to drive...brain injury, blindness, vicadin, and all!  My first thought was, get outta here fast before they have the chance to kill me!  My second thought was, I just met Dumb and Dumber! 

But as I drove away, I was humbled by some prayerful conclusions.  1 Samuel 16:7 came to mind in which we're reminded that "The LORD does not look at the things man looks at. Man looks at the outward appearance, but the LORD looks at the heart."   I thought about their hearts...they were obviously best friends.  They took time... a lot time...to take an interest in me, to learn my name, to share a few minutes of life.  They were loving, fun, polite, kind, and engaging. 

My final thoughts were this...I hope I get to see them again, and soon.  Because in the parking lot of that Sheetz, in the hearts of two "strange"rs, I think I met Jesus...

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

Brett boy am I glad to hear your story ended that way because I have encountered condesending holier than thou attitudes a lot lately so much so I am ready to hang it up!! Thanks for renewing my hope in human nature !!!

Brett Probert said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Brett Probert said...

No problem, my anonymous friend!

Ben said...

Did they sell loaves with their fishes?

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