I wouldn’t call it a chance meeting.
On the contrary, it was clearly orchestrated by God.
One evening last week, my wife Wendy and I went to Walt’s Convenience Store in Roby to meet with some people who were going to buy a car from her. While Wendy was dealing with the young woman who was to be the vehicle’s new owner, me, Scotty (the Scottie) and Lilah (the Corgi) went for a short walk in a nearby grassy area. After that, the three of us (with the two dogs on leashes) wandered over to where a young man and young woman were waiting for the transaction to conclude.
I figured Scotty and Lilah would be perfect icebreakers, as they have often have before. I was right, as the young man took serious notice of the canine characters.
I told him their names and that they were both eight years old, and that their birthdays were only two days apart. He was fascinated with them, and stooped down to give them each “hand time” they were hoping for.
I introduced myself and shook his hand, and he said his name was Malachi. We exchanged a bit of small talk, and he kept mentioning how much he liked the dogs. He said he had a lab and a lab mix at home in St. Robert, and our dogs could clearly tell he was a dog person.
After a short time, I handed over Lilah’s leash and she became Malachi’s dog for a while.
He was like, “they’re so relaxed and well-behaved.”
I just said something like, “yeah, we love to watch them operate in the public.”
As we stood together, our conversation evolved toward more serious subjects, like the awful state of the world and the overall sense of despair being felt by people everywhere. As we conversed, we came to realize we had multiple opinions and viewpoints in common, especially regarding God’s sovereignty and control.
I was overcome by a feeling of gratitude.
Here was a well-spoken, articulate, 23-year-old African American man seeing eye-to-eye with an old white guy who was, well, let’s just say way, way, way higher in years. I was so glad to share the moment with Malachi, and he seemed to have the same sort of reaction.
It was great. It gave me a sense of goodness in humanity that I often have a hard time feeling, based on all the strife and discord in all corners of current existence.
At one point, I said, something like, “it’s too bad that people have so much animosity toward each other, because when you really break things down, we’re actually all pretty much the same.”
“The same,” Malachi said.
We agreed that it would be nice if people could just lay down the weapons, forget their prejudices, bias and intolerance and simply recognize how much we all share. But we also agreed that the chances of that happening are slim and that the concept isn’t Biblical, and that people are more likely to continue down the path of tumult and turmoil.
But the more we spoke, the more I knew I was dealing with someone who possessed a kind and gentle spirit and comprehended the vastness of God and the folly of mankind. And the more I felt as if I was in the right place at the right time and in an entirely meaningful and purposeful situation.
Anyway, I know Malachi and I were both supposed to be there that night, and our brief experience together was no mere coincidence or accident. I believe we both gleaned a significant amount of insight from each other and went away better for it.
And man, it rekindled some hope inside me with regard to the state of humanity.
Yep, while the world is in chaos, people are becoming more and more uncaring and antagonistic – and it’s hard to tell (or imagine) what’s going to happen next – there are still folks who grasp what’s truly important in life.
Thank God for that.
