I know that all of you that keep up with the blog day by day were wondering if I ended up going to coffee with that guy at 11pm. I, in fact, didn't. He never called. I stayed up till midnight waiting on him then I laid awake till one or two trying to remember if I agreed to meet him somewhere and if I just stood him up.
So this morning stunk. I don't really remember most of it. I rolled out of bed and turned off the alarm at 6. I then remember B telling me to get out of bed at 7:30. That is the time that I am suppose to leave to make it to class on time.
I rolled out of bed around 7:45 and threw on some clothes and drug myself out the door. I stopped by the dukaan (little store, like a third world version of Food Plaza or 7Eleven) and grabbed a Pepsi and a Snickers. That's life.
I grabbed a cab and the only thing I remember thinking as I got in and saw the long beard/short thobed driver was, "Great! I love getting blasted with Qu'ranic verses first thing in the morning." A long bearded guy with a short thobe (the traditional Muslim garb. They keep it short, because “that is what Mohammad did”) is a great sign of a fundamental Muslim. These guys are very traditional and usually not fans of "the unclean unbelievers."
This guy was actually really great though. I learned alot from him. We talked about the weather and his family and my family. Finally, I had enough caffeine from the Pepsi in me to actually converse on a deeper level and I asked him about what he thought of the Muhammad Cartoons and the Muslims burning the embassies all over the world. I was really expecting him to get angry and go off on the West, but he didn't. He was really upset that his brothers would do something like that to people they didn't know because of what someone else did.
He told me that we need to take each person for what that one person is. He said many Muslims are good people, but many of them have bad hearts and aren't seeking God. He told me that Christians and Jews were the same way. Many of them have good hearts, but many of them don't. You have to take it on an individual case. You have to get to know a person before you can say whether they are good or bad.
Ha! I wasn't expecting that from his mouth. Ha! I wasn't expecting anything good to come out of anyone this morning.
That one conversation put me in a good mood all day (it's a good thing too, because class stunk!) I don't really know why though. All I can say is that the Holy Spirit can use whatever to teach me lessons that I need to learn, I just wish it wasn't before noon!
2 comments:
Are there clocks in heaven? It's comforting to know that some things haven't changed since you've been gone. Morning is still a four letter word.
What that taxi driver said reminds me why I like the move "Kingdom of Heaven". It showed the good and evil that existed in both camps. Through all the "get-over-its" I heard about the Muslim cartoon, I remembered the Crusades, and what people did in the name of our Savior. We would all do well to reflect on the words, "They will know you by your LOVE." This isn't about some lofty philosophy of life, but how we react in every circumstance. I recently posted a quote by Mother Teresa on my blog, "We often say to Christ, 'Make us partakers of Your suffering.' But, when someone is insensitive to us, how easily we forget that this is the moment to share with Christ! It would be enough for us to remember that it is Jesus who gives us, through such a person or circumstance, the opportunity to do something beautiful for Him." We love you guys, give us another call when it's convenient for you (it can be after noon and we don't mind if you wake us up)!
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