The morning arrived and I prepared for my meeting with Gideon. I felt calm and composed yet, there was an undercurrent of excitement that even I couldn’t deny. Due to my recent relocation, I wasn’t familiar with many of the local streets. Finally, out of frustration, I resorted to a local map and, having located the street, got in my car and drove off.
At the designated address, I walked up to the front door and anxiously rang the bell. A gray-haired lady opened the door, smiled at me and said, “Please come in. You must be John. Gideon is expecting you.” I thanked her and entered. I spotted Gideon in the living room and walked over to shake his hand. Simultaneously he stretched out his hand, smiled and motioned for me to sit. Impatiently I fidgeted. The silence was overwhelming. Sometimes, a few seconds can seem like an eternity.
“So, how are you Gideon?” I finally asked. Anything to start a conversation, I thought.
“As usual, John, I’m tending to business, doing the things that need to be done,” he replied matter-of-factly.
“Well, your business must have been very busy because I haven't heard from you in ages. Where were you during the past few years, Gideon? I really could have used some help. Somehow I felt abandoned, as good as betrayed, by you and even by God. Remember, we met Him in the Big City—or did we? Was it all nonsense... an illusion? My tired mind playing cruel jokes on me?”
“No, not nonsense at all. Far from it. We were with you all the time. You were so blinded by what appeared to be happening to you, so consumed in self-pity that you weren’t even aware of our presence.”
I wanted to scream in anger, but managed to restrain myself. “Gideon, I’ve been and still am going through a mine-field of confusion and suffering. Lost my homes, lands, father, company and most of my dignity and self-confidence. My wife was diagnosed with cancer. Her parents are also being treated for cancer. There’s no medical insurance—hardly any money. I mean, how much can one person take? You don’t know what it’s like... you probably don’t even care.”
He interrupted me, “Yes, I know about all of that. But you gained strength, humility, wisdom and much more. Jim Elliot, a martyr, once said,‘He is no fool who gives what he cannot keep to gain what he cannot lose.’ The things that are important are still with you, even more so today. Your dignity and self-confidence are still with you, but most of all you’re regaining your sense of purpose.”
“Sense of purpose about what?”
“About what you came here to do.”
“What I came here to do? Beats me. I have no idea what I came here to do, except, perhaps, to live and work and struggle until I die.”
To read the rest of the story visit spiritual-simplicity. com
No comments:
Post a Comment