It was November 2007, the day after Thanksgiving.
With nothing to do that day, family too far away, I surfed the Internet looking for something to do in Fresno, California. I stumbled upon the Save Mart Center website only to see that the Trans-Siberian Orchestra was in town that night. I checked the available seating. Disgruntled to find that the only tickets available were up in the highest rows.
“Come on, let’s go”, my friend said. I hesitated to go, but my friend kept anxiously begging me to go. “I’ll go see if we can get tickets at the box office!” my friend said.
Within about a half an hour, I received a phone call. “Lani, I got the tickets! They are on the floor, right in front of the stage! I’ll be there shortly.”
I went from Trash to Treasure in minutes, from my sweatpants skirt to a dazzling orchestra outfit. We dashed out the door to make sure we were able to park in time.
Inside, we wandered through hundreds of people to find our seats on the floor. We ended up being there a bit early, due to our rush, so we had time to watch other people finding their seats, as well.
Soon, a disheveled man in a long dark grey coat wandered by and sat down two rows in front of us. His strawberry blond hair was dirty, matted, and in a ponytail. He carried two clear totes with him. You could see trash and cans inside the bags. As he sat there, my heart began to go out to him. I thought, “Maybe he had a different life at one time and he saved up all he could scrounge to come to his favorite show?”
As the dirty, disheveled man took a swig of whiskey from his pocketed silver flask, my friend grunted, “ No, that is Legion. He is full of devils.” Moments after that comment, the man arose and shuffled to another seat.
I told my friend, “No, he is not Legion. Maybe he was your test and you flunked it?”
My friend began to look around for the man and could not spot him anywhere. My friend searched for this man for several minutes. Surely one would see him if he were to leave, the exits being at the top row. I said, “See, it was your test. He was taken up like Elijah. It was your test. To see if there was compassion in your heart.”
The show began. It was a wonderful show. They played Classical Music. They played Heavy Metal. There was snow falling and flames shooting. The story was about an angel that was sent out into the dark night by God to find a heart, to find a soul. To find a soul from the past.
After about an hour or two, distracted by the amazing color light show, we looked up onto the stage. There was the man in the long grey coat. He shuffled over to the microphone and began to sing a beautiful song. He was part of the show! My friend looked at me and said, “You were right. He wasn’t Legion. I have learned a lesson.”
That night ended with a spectacular fireworks and light show. It was great!
Three days later, my friend stopped in a deserted part of town to add water to a leaky radiator. A homeless man approached my friend. He was dirty and disheveled. And my friend remembered the test from the previous night. The man started to say how cold he was and asked if my friend had any money for a cup of coffee. My friend asked the man, “Are you sure you’re not going to buy alcohol with it?” The man said, “No, man, I don’t drink.”
So, my friend handed the guy a five-dollar bill. Stuck under the bill was a church card I had made up to invite people to church.
As the man looked at the card and then looked at my friend, he said, “Are you Apostolic?” My friend said, “Yes, I am and I’d like to invite you to church.” The man, with tears in his eyes looked at my friend and said, “I’m from Highway City Church. I used to be the bus driver there for Sunday School. Everything just fell apart when I lost my wife and daughter.”
The conversation went on and my friend prayed for the man and said, “If you call me, I will come pick you up for church, at any location. Just call me. This is God, reaching out to you.”
It’s amazing to see how God works, with one little compassionate heart and one little lesson.
