I’m sure you’ve seen the email circulating about the new preacher in town.  He gets on the bus, and pays the fee. On the way to his seat, he realizes that he’s gotten too much change.

As he sits in his seat, he tries to decide what to do with the quarter he got by mistake. First, he thinks that he’ll keep it- after all, the bus company already makes plenty of money, and no one would miss it. Then he realizes that even though it’s only a quarter, it’s still wrong to keep it, because it doesn’t belong to him.

As he gets off the bus, he hands the driver the quarter and says “You gave me too much change earlier.”  The bus driver smiles at him and says, “Aren’t you the new preacher? I gave you too much change intentionally, to see how you’d handle it.  I’ve been trying to decide on which church to go to- I’ll see you Sunday.”

When the preacher gets off the bus, he’s almost rocked to his knees, and thinks, ‘Oh Lord- I almost sold your son for a quarter.’

That may be a sappy story, but it has a good message anyway.  Because like it or not, if you’re a Christian, the people around you watch you every day to see how you’re going to handle bad news, problems, gossip,  rude customers, angry bosses, unreasonable requests.

And what’s an even scarier thought – what kind of witness are you to the “invisible” people who are watching you when you don’t realize it. People who are around you, but not noticeable- like serving staff in a restaurant, or the person who waits on you at your grocery store or department store;  the clerk at your post office. These people are right in front of you, but because of what they do, you aren’t always completely aware of them. How many times have you gone through the checkout line without actually recognizing  the person ringing you up? How many times have you let out your anger or frustration about your job on the waitress who just brought your lunch? How many times have you treated the “invisible” people as less than human?

Because I work part-time in a deli, I’ve seen people act in ways I wouldn’t have believed. It’s like they don’t even see me and my co-workers… I posted on Facebook last year, right after starting my job, that a real friend loves you even when you’re wearing your hairnet. I said it as a joke, but there’s a lot of truth in it.

The next time you’re out and about, watch for the “invisible people”; when you see one, pretend that person is your daughter or son – because that person IS someone’s son or daughter.

And remember- as trite as this may sound- sometimes you are the only “Jesus” someone sees.  Don’t you want to be a good representation of Him?

One of my favorite secular writers is Stephen King.  I’ve been reading his books ever since I picked up a copy of  Salem’s Lot in the grocery store a long time ago.

Many years ago, he started the Dark Tower series, which are related in one way or another to almost all of his other books. One theme running throughout those books are “all things serve the Beam” – the Beam being a force for good that holds all things together.

I heard James Dobson say one morning on Focus on the Family that everything serves God – even Madonna. When he said that, I started arguing with him immediately… there’s no way that Madonna serves God! Look at how she dresses and acts!  But the more I thought about it, the more I knew he was right. Everything serves God – everything.  The good and the bad can point you back to God, if you’ll allow it to.  Bad things serve God by giving us a reason to lean on Him and trust Him. Good things serve God by giving a reason to be thankful.

So… back to Stephen King. As I said, he’s one of my favorite authors. Yes, he can be gruesome. Yes, he uses ugly language. Yes, he’s scary (after all, he says he has the heart of a small boy – in a jar on his desk! LOL).  But he serves God, just like his characters serve the Beam (and can’t that be a metaphor for God, just like Aslan the Lion?).  When I read one of King’s books and laugh, my husband always says, “I thought you were reading a Stephen King book- why are you laughing?” And I always say, “Because he’s got a wicked sense of humor, and because there’s truth in there.” I find sermons all through King’s work.

All things serve the Beam – and the Beam and King serve God.

I love riding my bike,  even when it’s raining.  Of course, I don’t ride when I can’t see where I’m going or what I’m doing, but just a regular rain can feel very nice. Sorta like playing in the rain when you were a kid.

So anyway, last Saturday I had to ride into Troy to meet my brother with the saxophone. It felt nice outside, not too hot, with a good breeze, so I took the bike. About two miles from where 29 crosses 231, I saw it was going to rain on me pretty quick. By the time I got to 231, it was raining pretty hard, so I rode down onto 231 then immediately pulled off at the gas station; I called Lee and told him where I was and we met there.  After we got through talking, I loaded up to head back home. By the time I got onto the overpass again, it had started raining again – that little stinging rain. I was all tensed up,  like I was afraid someone was going to hit me.

Then all of a sudden, I heard a voice in my head saying, “Didn’t I tell you I’d take care of you on this bike?”   Of course, I knew He had  so I relaxed, and then I shouted! Not exactly a Dukes of Hazzard moment, but close enough for me.  I shouted and sang for most of the way home.

So when Brother Price asked us last night if we’d ever felt like shouting when we felt like the devil was after us, I  could honestly say yes! and I’m here to tell you, it’s a good feeling to be able to do that.

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