Читать книгу The Light in the Mirror - David I. Lane - Страница 9

5

Facing New Challenges

Richard was not a morning person. Except when college classes had required it, he seldom rose before nine. But this morning, crows in the backyard sounded their alarm at the break of day.

Unable to get back to sleep, Richard stared at a brown water stain on the ceiling, picking out the shape of a seagull in flight, as he’d done numerous times since childhood.

Climbing out of bed, he muttered, “Rotten crows!”

He showered, dressed, and went quietly downstairs. Not wishing to wake his uncle, he fixed himself a simple breakfast of coffee, toast, and orange juice.

Guess I’ll take a walk. Burn all those calories from that huge breakfast.

Richard slipped on a light jacket against the cool morning air. He closed the front door softly and headed toward town.

Deep in thought, he hadn’t realized that he had walked all the way downtown until he suddenly noticed the sidewalks filling with people who, unlike himself, had particular destinations in mind. They rushed to stores just opening or to reach jobsites on time.

“Excuse me!” said a woman after she bumped into Richard in an effort to get around him. The young man’s slow pace made him an obstruction.

Since I’m just a block from church, I’ll say hello to Cal Jessup and get out of everyone else’s way. He picked up his pace.

When Richard appeared at the open door to Cal’s office, the youth pastor said. “Do you know I was thinking about you this very minute?”

“Oh? I hope it was something good.”

“It was! See!” Cal pointed. “My desk calendar says, ‘Call Richard Hawkins’ and here you are!”

“Rich, in all the years I’ve known you, you’ve taken every opportunity to serve our church. I wouldn’t say this to all our members, but you don’t just talk the talk, you walk the walk.”

Richard wondered where this was leading.

“I’m leaving for Columbus, Ohio soon. I’ll be speaking at a church there. Responsibility for our youth group needs to be entrusted to someone who’s reliable. Someone who’ll lift up Scriptural truth. But I need a person who can relate to youth! I need someone the kids will look up to.”

“Yea, that’s the kind of person you need alright. What about Charlie Evans?”

“If I wanted someone who could take the youth group ice skating, Charlie would be fine. But fun isn’t my objective.”

“I can’t think of anybody else right now.”

“How about you, Rich? You’re the one I had in mind.”

“Me? Leading a group isn’t my thing. I’d like to help, but . . .”

“I need someone who has a dynamic witness, who regularly spends time in God’s Word as I know you do.”

“I don’t know, Cal. How would I know what to do? I would sure need to pray about this, and talk to my uncle.”

“Yes, you should pray about it. And speak to your uncle. I’ve put some notes and other materials in this file folder. Look these over and let me know your decision tomorrow morning. If you decide it’s a go, we’ll meet for lunch and talk. I’ll be leaving for Columbus exactly one week from today. Uh, that would be June 21st. Should give you time to prepare for the group’s meeting. You would also have to make yourself available in case any of the kids need to talk with you about a problem. If a problem turns out too heavy,” Cal emphasized, noticing Richard’s look of concern, “that person could talk to one of the other pastors, or to me when I get back.”

“I’ll think about it and let you know.”

“Hey, my barber told me this joke the other day, but stop me if you’ve heard it.”

“Even if I have, I won’t mind hearing it again. A good joke deserves an encore.”

“A father drove his six-year-old daughter to school every morning on his way to work. One day he had to be out of town, so her mother took her. When they arrived, the little girl looked puzzled. She said, ‘We didn’t see any idiots the way we do when daddy takes me to school.’”

Cal laughed. “I hadn’t heard that one. I just might be able to use it in a sermon I have to give next week.”

“You know, Rich, I’ve known you for years. This is the first time I’ve ever heard you tell a joke. Come to think of it, I’ve not heard you laugh very often.”

“No, I guess not.”

“In my devotions recently, I read the Scripture: ‘Let us be glad and rejoice in every day that God has made.’ That isn’t the exact quotation, but you get the idea.”

“Close enough. Psalm 118:24 has encouraging words for all of us. So, that verse gave you a new outlook.”

“Yes, but it was a goal I had. I just didn’t know how to get there—not ‘til one night when I picked up a book of my father’s.”

“Oh? What book was that?”

“The title was Little Rivers. It’s a book of short stories by Henry van Dyke.”

“Yes, the nineteenth century religious writer,” interjected Cal. “I’ve read his book The Story of the Other Wise Man.”

“In one of the stories, a man on a lonely moor finds a twig of white heather growing there. The beauty of the heather encourages him to focus on God, and not on the loneliness of his situation. And then the man feels glad about the day the Lord has made.”

“If I follow, you’ve discovered that you needed to focus more on the white heather and less on the lonely moor.”

“Well, I’m trying. I’m the kind of person who’s ready to solve the problem, but doesn’t know how to enjoy the solution.”

“I’d say telling jokes and laughing more is a good beginning.”

As he walked back home, Richard thoughtfully considered Cal’s request for help. By the time he’d reached his uncle’s house, he felt the Lord had led him to a decision. But he wanted his uncle’s opinion.

He found Mac in the garden weeding around his roses, sitting on his “weeding stool,” a wooden box turned upside down with a cushion on it.

Mac was singing softly to himself: “Oh my luve’s like a red, red rose, / That’s newly sprung in June; / Oh my luve’s like the melodie / That’s sweetly played in tune.” Richard stood there a few minutes, undetected. He liked listening to his uncle sing.

“It’s ye!” exclaimed the Scot, as he turned around on his box and smiled at his nephew. “I felt someone’s eyes lookin’ doon on my back. Di’ ye have a braw walk?”

Richard nodded, then told his uncle about his conversation with Cal and his decision to help. He wondered what his uncle’s response would be, since he valued his judgment.

The Scotsman’s answer was immediate. “Ye made the right decision, laddie!”

“I’m proud o’ ye, so I am. A lot o’ young men would have avoided the responsibility, but not ye,” he proclaimed as he got up and patted Richard on the back.

Even though his uncle seemed very positive about his decision, Richard himself still felt uneasy. “I wonder, Uncle, if I have time to really prepare.”

“Is it more time ye need to prepare? Or, is it more time ye need to get used to doin’ the job? People often fear anythin’ they canna completely understand, and they want all the answers before they’ll take a step o’ faith. The great Irish poet, William Butler, once said, ‘Life is a mystery to be lived, not a problem to be solved.’ Well, I have work to do. And I suppose ye do too.”

“Yes, I guess I do.” Smiling wryly, Richard looked at the folder in his hands.