Unbelievable. That's this week. I got picked for jury duty on Monday. And almost every day this week, in my travels, I have run into someone I know. What are the odds of this happening once? Four times. The last was last night. Handing out tracts on South Street, I was standing with Ray at 4th. While Ray was getting pizza I see the keyboard player for Todd walk by. I usually leave people alone. Let them live their life, what am I going to say to them anyway? But I figure I could hand him a tract with my web page address and tell him there's a picture from Maddie's on there. So I run down the street. It's crowded on these balmy evenings. Every one has "spring fever". There he is crossing the street at the next block. I look, and it's indeed him so I hand him my web address and tell him I saw him at Maddie's and I have a picture on my site. He is very nice, shakes my hand and asks me my name. I told him I was over by the bongos and a young lady says "bongo boy". I said, yes, I should've called Todd "bongo boy" when he was over there. ...You know my brother does sound for bands so he goes to a lot of clubs and he said he thought he had seen this fellow before. Evidently, he is from the area. I didn't say much. If I would have been thinking more, I could have told him that I did like what he did in "Born to Synthesize". His solo culminated with rising half tones that was very good.
Back on 4th street. A brother from COBU comes over. Tom, when are you going to give up this lonely thing? "What, and get married?" I ask. No, I didn't say get married, I said give up this lonely thing. "What do you mean?" I ask. You know. No, I don't. "Is this the latest thing?" I ask. No. I'm thinking maybe it's from on high. He says no. So maybe it is from his heart. That's what's lacking in Kevin Browne and the Stewart sisters. You can see and hear they are a mouth piece for someone else. Their hearts are not engaged. They're parrot puppets. That's their choice. They think there's power in those words. Apart from their heart, the words are empty. They do not own them. I can tell they're from mr. harshness; the super prophet. The revered voice. By some. Not me.
Ray started to pontificate a little and talk about how the prophets were quite often alone. And the brother said, which one was that that said I alone am left? Elijah. So Ray asks the brother if he ever felt like he was alone, or lonely. The brother immediately said no. I said, "Come on, I just told him you're one of the most sincere brothers. You can say you feel lonely sometimes. Every one feels that way sometimes." So the brother confesses, yes, sometimes he feels lonely. I tell the brother a lot of stuff that is going on in my personal life and he asks, why are you telling me all of this. And I mockingly put my hand on his shoulder and confess: "I guess cause I'm lonely". Ray laughs.
What else did he say? He was personable. Oh yeah, I liked you better in 1989 when I first met you. You were more real. And something else. I said, "Really?" He told me to give up my religious stuff. I used to talk to him while I had contact with him around 1992 as I worked at the shop where he was staying upstairs. He said I would talk to him about "religious" stuff. I told the brother that I was in a transition period of healing of getting out of the lousy mindset I had been in. Evidently nothing I had said had struck home with him. They were helping me. Ray asked the brother if the brother who's place he was staying at was saved. The brother said, I don't know, you'd have to ask him. I said, "Of course he's saved. I was with him last night. He's one of the best brothers I know". The brother frowned in disbelief. I said "He helped you". The brother said, I don't know if he helped me.
Why this is a wonder.
This brother thinks someone helping you in your life is brow beating you when you're down. Not putting a roof over your head. Where the Bible says the opposite. My friend didn't say, go your way, peace, be well. He DID something. He, by his works, showed his faith to this brother. But because my friend did not brow beat him, he didn't help him. Ridiculous. How is Jesus? Patient and kind. His kindness is meant to lead us to repentance - and doesn't it always. Don't we always end up repenting? Like the footsteps poem, where there was only one set - "It was then that I carried you". My friend can put a roof over this brother's head - and the head of countless others COUNTLESS OTHERS and many other times, and it's looked at as, well, I don't know if you can call that helping me.......
At one point the brother says to me, Tom, when are you going to join the human race? Now he crossed the line, and I told him I was offended. What is he talking about. How did I become a non member of the human race? Where is this statement coming from? The brother's person and care had been there totally up to this point. Now he went out in left field. I should rejoin the human race?!
Then he asks me if I know Proverbs 32.1. A brother asked me that a few weeks back and I countered with how about Ecclesiastes 13? I had gotten him on that when he was a younger brother in my charge. But now I hear it again, and apparently the voice from on high is now Solomon adding to his Proverbs. Proverbs 32.1 is something about wrong motivation ending and the right motivation lasting. Of course, the right motivation is something only they are privy to, of course. And then he had 32.2. Boy, Solomon has been busy lately. What did God say about adding to His word? But I guess that doesn't include you know who. You be the judge, brothers and sisters. And the brother tells me "I'm missing out". I said I don't think so. The brother said there's hope in Jesus. I said, "Sure, there's TONS of hope in Jesus".
And he's telling me how we need to love one another. Of course. I asked him if he loved himself. He said no. I said, well there's your problem. Jesus said to love your neighbor as yourself. And if you don't love yourself, well, then, no wonder. The brother shakes his head and obviously doesn't get it. And at this point walks away. I say "You walked into that one, brother! But don't walk into that oncoming traffic". And he stopped to avoid the cars and turned his head back to me and said he didn't walk into that one....
So this brother's views, unfortunately as we all know, is tainted, under the veil of a pseudo Elijah. I should bow down and worship at the altar of "correct teaching" which I understand to be corrupt teaching. And I should give up this "alone" stuff. I am not alone.