Just when you think you've got things figured out they go and change the rules. And just when you think you know someone, they do something to show you don't know them at all. Like the cute girl in high school, who you see ten years later, who has three kids and is as big as a house for them to live in. Or the poor kid who became rich. I have learned, or am still learning to deal with the unexpected, controlling my expression, or sometimes even feigning my surprise.
I went to high school with Gary Proto. He set national records for running the half mile, had a crew cut, and was destined for great things in college. Yet the last time I saw him, the night I left New Jersey, he was into drugs and drinking, quit running, and had grown shoulder length hair. We met at the liquor store, where a man drew a gun on us, so we went back to my house to the party. As he explained it to me, over many beers, his dad had died, who was the motivation in his life, and he had no one to turn to-so getting stoned was it. A turnaround I never thought I would see, and it still pains me today. He was a hero of sorts to me, one of the "sissy runners" as we used to call them, and we were into the same music. A talented, smart, articulate man-I wonder where he is today?
The summer before, I had taken my custom van on a cross country trip. Never having gone farther than Florida, this was a long trip, and a dream realized. It also was a trip where my life would change forever, I came to know Jesus Christ while with visiting friends in Santa Monica. While crossing Colorado, and learning about altitude and how it effects you-you mean the whole world isn't sea level like New Jersey, I had stopped at a rest stop when a long haired, hippie type came up to me. We talked and then got stoned in my van. His name was Jesse O'Leary, and he was a teacher at an Indian School, much like the hippie type, new age schools made popular after Billy Jack. We also talked motorcycles, as I had my R90S still in Jersey, and he wanted one-an R60. Simple gran falloons, Kurt Vonnegut would say, as we had drugs and BMW's in common. I left and never thought much of our chance meeting.
Until the next summer, when I was working at Motorsport in Albuquerque. And in comes Jesse, on a blue R60/5 like mine. He was teaching in Taos, at an Indian school, back when Taos had vigilante law, and Dennis Hopper was mayor-why and how this hippie survived I don't know. Or Hopper either! We embraced and were blown away by our meeting again, so we went to lunch, and he wanted to get high. I then shared with him how my life had changed, and how Jesus Christ had changed it. For almost an hour he asked questions, and I answered them-but he left me not ever coming to the point of accepting Jesus. But if ever a person had a chance to see a changed life, Jesse saw it in me.
John the Beloved, he was/is known as. Not only did he write five New Testament books, but he was on Patmos when Jesus unfolded the events to come in the Book of Revelation, and had him write them down. And because he did, it is the only book that says when it is read it comes with a blessing to those reading it. But John the Beloved is not what his fellow disciples would have known him as. Mention him to them early on, and his fellow apostles would have thought different, for even after becoming an apostle, it took God to change his heart, for he and his brother James were known as Sons of Thunder. Simply, he wanted to blow up anyone who opposed him. From government to individuals, he thought that disposing of his enemies was the best solution. But God showed him the better way, and this man today is known as the Apostle of Love. A changed heart, which changed his world view, which changed his world, and his life. And only Jesus can do that-for without a changed heart, there will no change of actions. Never mind the argument that he mellowed with age, this man had gone from mad bomber to isolation on Patmos, after being unsuccessfully boiled in oil for preaching the gospel. Politicians promise change-only Jesus Christ can change a man's heart.
A campaign slogan years ago asked "are you better off than four years ago?" My question to you-are you going to heaven? Has Jesus changed your life? If not, let today be that day. It could be in a rest stop, at the track, or a rally, or even reading these words. But don't miss the chance to know Jesus. He died for the chance to meet you. Listen to His story, ask questions, and let Him love on you. Just might change your life-I hope He does. Until then, I'll be praying for you.
love with compassion,
Mike
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