Danny ChaiI had a dream the other night that my sister gave birth to twin girls, whom she named Starla and Shazam.
I read something in the latest Esquire I found so encouraging I had to share it. It’s this guy driving around America talking to normal people to find out the State of the Union, not as presented in a Presidential speech, but as felt by real people. Here’s what he writes in Kansas:
The Lord’s Diner is a church-run soup kitchen in downtown Wichita. The entrance has a sign warning people that guns are not allowed inside. When I walk inside, I meet Mrs. Glick, who’s like the head lady, and she tells me: “We operate every night of the year, from 5:30 to 7:30, and we serve, no questions asked.”
At 5:30 there’s already a good line going around the building for the Lord’s Diner, and by 6:00 every single chair inside is taken. A lot of the people here look like they buy lottery tickets, like they look at eighty-million-to-one odds as a hell of a lot better than what they’ve got.
…
To be honest, I was a bit nervous about what I might be getting myself into here. The day before, a bail bondsman in Tulsa went off on me about how the apocalypse was coming. But the people here are really nice and the food is better than expected. but what really makes the dining experience such a pleasure is that the Bible isn’t shoved down my throat while I am trying to eat. They just let everybody be.
This was really cool and reminded me of this guy I met at a bar near my apartment a few months ago. He said that he was part of what is called the Night Ministry, a small group of ordained ministers who walk around San Francisco at night and just talk to people on the street if they need somebody to talk to.
I rolled with him for a while. Honestly, I was expecting people to harass the s*** out of him. But instead the complete opposite happened. Everywhere we went crackheads, junkies, and street people constantly came up to him asking for his blessing and/or a prayer. I was amazed not just about how many people on the streets believed in God, but how they all treated the ministers with respect.
Some people might not think that the people back home in San Francisco have much in common with those in Wichita. but I think they might. Especially those who are having trouble.
I’m not exactly sure why I found this so encouraging. I guess what it is is, Christians get a bad rap all the time for the things we say. I find it really encouraging to see that there are many Christians out there who are influencing others by doing, not by talking, and that it makes an impression even on this this non-Christian writer. These are the Christians that are going to change the world.