The
Importance of Seizing The Moment To Share Christ With Others
By Paula Pinto
It was during my sophomore year of
college that I worked at a busy photo lab and met Steve. Steve was a
vibrant man who was about 90 years old, yet full of life. He loved
taking pictures and would come to develop them two or three times a
week. Most often, I was the person that would help him, and he'd
always compliment the way I smiled when he approached the counter.
We'd have long conversations about his younger years i.e. his time
in the military service, his deceased wife, and his son's
accomplishments. In fact, Steve even shared how he loved to write
and brought in poems for me to read about his mother and his life
experiences. Above all else, Steve was extremely kind hearted and
often expressed how glad he was to come into the store when I was
working.
"No, it makes me happy when I'm working and
I see you come in!" I said.
While Steve was joyous about life in
general, as I read his writing I could see that there were days when
he also felt the pain from his loss of loved ones and other
obstacles. I knew that he shared his writing because it not only
gave him the opportunity to share the many joys in his life, but the
things that may have been to painful to talk about through
communicating.
If you knew Steve, you would understand why he
was so well-liked. In fact, we use to have a list of "top ten"
customers, and Steve was rated among our favorite. He made friends
with store owners along the avenue and I can name one store in
particular where the owner hung his photography because they liked
him so much! He was just one of those people that made you laugh and
also feel good because he was a genuine person and one who wanted to
make other people happy.
Soon after I graduated college, I started
working elsewhere and so I hardly saw Steve. Occasionally I would
bump into him in the area and we'd talk for awhile. Upon one
occasion, I told Steve that I missed reading his writing and he
said, "You really like it? Do you promise?" "Of course I do," I
responded and so he arranged that he would drop off some more of his
writing at a local store where we both knew the owner and I would
pick it up when I came home from work the next day. Evidently, Steve
believed that I was doing him some kind of a favor by reading his
work when really I was the one who was blessed that he was willing
to share these precious times in his life with me. Little by little
I would share the love of God with him and the importance of prayer
and I'll never forget the last time I saw him. He was sitting on a
bench a block away from my house and I was rushing out of a store to
get into a cab and go to church. "Where are you going?" he said. "To
church, and the next time I go maybe you could come." "Really? Do
you mean it?" "Of course. I think you will enjoy it and meet a lot
of nice people," I said. We spoke for a minute or two and then I
hurried along. That was the last time I spoke to him. A few months
later when I had walked into my former workplace and asked if anyone
had seen him, I heard the news that Steve had died. Not only was I
sad but immediately questioned whether or not I had shared enough
about the Lord with him. I wished I could have gone back in time and
instead of asking Steve to come to church in the future with
me....invited him right then and there.
So often we hear the phrase, "tomorrow is not
promised," and we take it lightly. At least I did and perhaps still
do from time to time. I admit that I have been guilty of waiting for
a more 'opportune' time to share Christ's love and mercy as though I
am certain that there will be another time to do so. The truth of
the matter is that people walk along our path and we do not know
when we will see them again or "if" we will see them again, and I
know this now...first hand. I can only hope that those times that I
did share and Steve did listen, that something happened afterward,
but I will never know, and not knowing is hard to come to terms with
sometimes.
May we take each opportunity we are given to
share the Good News with others in its entirety and not in bits and
pieces. May we not look for moments that we wish to create but
rather go with the ones that God gives us.
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Paula Pinto
is the
Managing
Editor and a
writer for a
New York
newspaper.
She is a
member of
the
Christian
based
writing
community
Faith
Writers, and
writes a
column
called
Christian
Food For
Thought,
published
monthly on
Christian
News Today.
Ms. Pinto
can be
contacted at
pintopaula7@yahoo.com
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