No accident

Forgot to blog about this after it happened, but last Tuesday I parked my car at a different train station than usual. Embedded in a sudoku puzzle on the way home, I failed to notice my stop come and go. When I realized my error I had just enough time to utter a few colorful sayings of my Irish heritage and hop off the train at the next stop.

The next train that would take me back to my car wouldn't be along for another 10 minutes. I wasn't cheered by the thought that by the time I rode back, got my car and drove home, nearly an extra hour would be tacked on to my commute. I was even less cheered when the next train that came by blew through the station without stopping. I didn't have a watch on, but that train seemed to coincide purty close with the time for the next train on the schedule.

The only other person on the platform was a kid, maybe 18, slouched on a bench. I asked him if that bullet was the 7:40pm we were supposed to catch and he said he hoped not. Making small talk, I explained the situation with my car. He made some noise that might have indicated sympathy or indifference. Then he asked me if he could borrow a pen. I gave it to him with a feeling of complete assurance that I would never see it again. I noticed a perfectly rendered marijuana leaf on his left hand and asked him if he intended to draw its twin. He laughed and said he didn't know.

Before long I had a halfway decent conversation going with this kid. He had lived with his brother and sister-in-law until recently, and was now back with his mother for the time being. He had dropped out of high school but his brother's father-in-law offered to put him through college if he got his GED. He liked to draw marijuana leaves.

I steered the direction toward faith. He wasn't really sure about any of that, didn't like organized religion, blah blah. Then I asked him if he believed in right and wrong. Absolutely, he replied. "Well," I said, "the thing I can never get my head around is how you can have right and wrong in a meaningless universe. Because if the whole universe has no point or meaning, if there's nothing or no one behind it, then it's impossible for right and wrong to exist. You can't create meaning in a meaningless universe." He seemed to think that was a fairly heady concept. About that time (God be praised) the real 7:40 pulled up.

We boarded and I asked him where he was sitting. He pointed off in some direction and I shook his hand and told him it was nice meeting him. To my utter astonishment, he said "wait, I don't want to completely cut off this conversation." So we sat down next to each other, and on and off for the next 15 minutes I shared the Gospel with him: How God is a God who is outraged and offended by sin; how Christianity is the only faith out there that acknowledges that man can't make himself righteous before God, rather that God must do that work for man; how Jesus accomplished this through the cross; how God loved this kid more than words can describe, and would gladly welcome him into His kingdom if he would receive for himself Christ's sacrifice and submit his life wholeheartedly to God. He truly seemed impacted by what I was saying. He wasn't ready for no altar call, but he told me he'd think about what I had said. I gave him the contact information and locations/meeting times for my church, along with my phone number and told him he was welcome at my church any time. I also told him to study hard and to hold his brother's father-in-law to his promise.

As the train was nearing my stop, I said, "you know, a half hour ago I was pretty mad when I first realized that I forgot to get off at this next station. But the more I think about it, I don't think that was a mistake at all. I don't think it's any accident that I met you tonight. I think God planned this whole thing." He just laughed in a way that suggested that he thought I might be right.

I don't know if I'll ever see that kid again, but I'm praying for him. And I'm grateful to God for turning what first appeared to be an annoyance into a magnificent opportunity to bring Him glory.