Who handed me this copy? Ah, therein lies the tale….
I was volunteering with a group that was having
a Saturday meeting at a Roswell church.
There were probably 20 of us in the church’s meeting hall.
And then this guy showed up at the meeting
hall door. The man needed a shave, his
clothes were wrinkly.
“I was hoping to talk to the preacher, hoping
he could give me some money so I could get a place to stay tonight,” said the
man. “I hitchhiked from the VA hospital
in San Antonio, I was hoping to see my brother, to stay at his place but he and
his wife are out of town.”
“Well the preacher’s not here,” said Mona,
leader of our group. “You need to go
somewhere else.”
The man turned and went back out the door.
“Couldn’t we call the preacher?” I asked.
“We don’t want to bother the preacher,” said
Mona. “He’s not here, end of story. The guy probably just wants money for booze.”
“I didn’t think so,” I said, “He seemed
sincere.”
“Trust me Grant,” said Mona, “You’re in the
minority here on that.”
We got back to the business at hand.
A few minutes later one of our group joined
us late.
“Who’s the dude sitting out front?” asked the
tardy one.
“Some guy?” asked Mona, “Looks kind of
rough?”
“Yeah,” said the latecomer.
“That’s it,” said Mona, “I’m calling the cops.”
“Come on, Mona, call the preacher,” I
said. I had no idea who the preacher
was, this was just a church where our volunteer group held its meetings.
“I’m NOT calling the preacher, not bothering
him with this,” said Mona. “That guy out
there is a nuisance.”
“Really,” I said. “He’s a stranger in a strange land so he
comes to a church for some help and you call the cops on him. Nice.”
I turned and went outside to talk with the
man.
He was off to the side of the door sitting on
a sidewalk. I sat down next to him. We got to shootin’ the breeze. He stuck to his story that he had hitchhiked
to Roswell from San Antonio VA hospital.
“I ain’t been the same since ‘Nam,” he
said. “Trouble holding a job, trouble
keeping money. I understand people are
suspicious of me.”
“Yeah,” I said, “They think that you just
came here to hit the preacher up for booze money.”
He laughed and looked at the ground.
“Yeah,” he said, “Like I said, people are
suspicious of me.”
About that time there was a big shadow over
the both of us.
I looked up.
It was a policeman. His partner was behind him.
“We have a problem here?” asked the cop.
“No sir,” I said. “I think there’s been a misunderstanding.”
“Well, we got a call,” said the policeman.
“Yeah,” I said, “That was from my friends
inside. This man came in from San
Antonio to see his brother, his brother is out of town until tomorrow and he
just needs a place to stay for the night.
He came this church to see if he could get some help in staying at a
motel for the night. My friends think he
just wants booze money.”
“Can I see some ID?” asked the cop.
I showed him mine, the stranger showed him
his. Mr. Policeman jotted some notes on
a pad. He handed our IDs back.
“Y’all have a nice day,” said the cop. He and his partner turned and left.
“Hang on bud,” I said.
I got up and walked back into the church.
“REALLY?” I shouted the one word question as
I walked in the room. I interrupted the
meeting. I had all eyes in the room. “A man comes to a church for help and you
call the cops on him?”
Silence.
“I tell you what,” I said, reaching for my
wallet. I held it up, opened it up and a
$10 bill fluttered to the ground. I
reached down and picked it up. “This $10
bill is all I have in my wallet. I
challenge all of you to contribute toward a motel room for the night for this
guy.”
“Not me,” said one guy.
“It’s okay buck-o,” I said. “I really don’t care, it’s your Karma.”
“He’s just gonna buy booze or drugs,” he went
on.
“Whatever,” I said.
Mona forked over a $20 bill.
I looked her in the eyes.
“Thank you,” I said. “That really ought to do it.”
“But,” said Mona. “You and I are going to follow him after he
leaves here. He’s gonna blow that $30 on
booze.”
“Deal,” I said. “I say he’s gonna make a beeline for a motel
on Second Street.”
I walked outside and handed the guy the $30.
“Wow,” he said. “Thank you.”
“Good fortune you you, hermano,” I said.
He reached in his jacket pocket and pulled
out a little black book.
“Here,” he said, “I want you to have this.”
I was so wound up by the whole situation I
just smiled, took the book and put it in my back pocket.
I watched the guy turn and walk down the
street toward Second Street.
I turned and there was Mona standing there.
“Let’s go, Jesus,” said Mona.
Mona and I got in my car and pulled out on
the street. I drove slowly and pulled
over every now and then to keep a good distance between the man and us.
In a matter of time the fellow was at Second
Street.
He crossed and walked into a motel office.
Mona and I watched as he spent a couple of
minutes in the office. Then he left,
walked by a number of rooms, stopped, opened the door, went in then he closed
the door.
“O fu*#ing kay,” said
Mona, “So I was wrong.”
I didn’t say anything as I drove back to the
church.
I pulled up in front and left the engine
running.
I waited for Mona to get out.
“You’re not coming back in?” asked Mona.
“No,” I said.
“Y’all are fu*#ked up. Have a
nice life, Mona.”
Mona got out and I drove back to my house.
When I got home I went to the fridge, got a
beer then went and plopped down in my recliner.
I felt the thing the guy gave me in my back
pocket.
I reached around and looked at it.
I had first thought the guy had given me a
notebook, something to jot my thoughts in.
Nope.
It was a small leather bound New Testament.
I thumbed through the pages.
Mindlessly.
Because I wasn’t really thinking about the
little book or what was in it.
I was more preoccupied with why he gave it to
me.
I looked down and saw that the book had
fallen open to the first book of Corinthians.
I’d actually never read anything from that section of The Bible before.
I was looking at chapter 10. Verse 13 caught my attention…
“No
temptation has overtaken you that is not common to man. God is faithful,
and he will not let you be tempted beyond your ability, but with the
temptation he will also provide the way of escape, that you may be able to
endure it.”
I
thought about those words.
I smiled.
Those
words came in handy for me, they fit right in at that time of my life.
In a holy
book given to me by a man who just wanted a little help.
-30-
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