Transit Authority

I think it’s a well known fact that, on weekdays, I take the bus to work. Well if it wasn’t well known before it is now. Over the years I’ve gotten to know some really good people and some really strange ones. Really strange. That sounds like judgment, right? Let’s say I’ve met some interesting people. There are two that are most striking. One I had become quite fond of and consider family. The other I was happy wasn’t family and wouldn‘t dare give it a thought to pretend like he was. One I just lost touch with . The other I avoid like the plague. I ran into both of them this week courtesy of the Transit Authority. Bring on the conviction. (Although I didn’t know at the time that was what was happening. I simply knew something strange was going on)

The first person I saw was on Tuesday. I report to work late on Tuesdays and last Tuesday I arrived to downtown Riverside, Ca. with extra time on my hands. Instead of taking my usual connection (crowded) I opted for a less crowded alternative. About halfway to my destination my friend boards the bus and sits next to me. Naturally we catch up on the things that have happened to us since we last saw each other. I begin to feel like a steaming pile when she tells me that she had at one point been in the hospital for an illness and had no one to list as her next of kin. Since she hadn’t been able to reach me she listed her landlord as next of kin. Nice, Brenda. Welcome to Turdville.

 She also told me that she had moved from her old apartment and happily moved into another and was enjoying the peace and safety of a new environment. She told me about how the Lord had blessed her with an apartment in a senior complex with amenities such as a Jacuzzi, recreation room, etc. She also didn’t have to pay utilities and the rent was half the cost of the old apartment that offered nothing but sleepless nights from it being in one of Riverside’s not so nice neighborhoods. God is good and blessing his people, for sure. Since we were disembarking at the same location and I still had time on my hands I joined her in running a few errands. It was an enjoyable start to the morning even though I couldn’t quite shake this “feeling” that was hanging around. I suppose that feeling was stuff on my shoes from Turdville.

Then there was Thursday. After an uneventful but still long day at work I boarded the express limo headed for Montclair. I didn’t notice him at first but he surely noticed me, Son of a Debbie! There he is and he’s talking to me. At first I was unable to give him my full attention because my mind is replaying the voice of another rider talking about how Mr. Avoid Like the Plague is when he’s not taking his medication. I want to quiet that voice and pay attention to the person talking to me but my own voice joins in agreement that this dude is definitely off his meds. Guess who needs meds now? When I do listen I realize that he is troubled. He talks about being misunderstood because he acts and thinks differently than most people. He expresses how it feels knowing that people don’t like him and often either roll their eyes at him when he talks or become hostile towards him. He talks about the anger he has at times and realizes it originates from sadness. All the while I kept thinking I was one of those people.

 I was never rude or disrespectful towards him but I did think his New Age hocus pocus was for the birds. I still do but I felt compassion for him and didn’t like the fact that he was feeling down because of the way people treated him. The thought that I may have been one of them… back to Turdville. But not for long. I don’t ever want to go there again. That feeling I had wasn’t something that was stuck to the bottom of my shoes. No, it was some inside mess and the Holy Spirit doing some cleanup, rather, some convicting. I understand that if the Lord is going to dwell in me He is going to do some housecleaning. They say that the Lord will reach you right where you’re at. I spend a good amount of time on the city limo and the Transit Authority, aka the Holy Spirit, not one to miss an opportunity, sent two messengers to give me a peak at what He’s finding as He cleans me up. Thank you, Jesus, for caring so much about me to heal and cleanse me from the inside out! Suggested reading Matthew 18:33, 25:4; Mark 6:34, 2Timothy 3:16-17