The eCrozier

Those of us who find ourselves living busy, over-scheduled lives sometimes have a hard time seeing the other souls around us who need a little grace in their lives. We can come to see random encounters with others as delays or distractions from our important daily schedules. But maybe God wants us to see that these delays and distractions with other souls is actually God calling us to follow Jesus to his Cross? We can become so goal-oriented and schedule-driven that we bulldoze our way through life and never notice those other souls around us.

Every day I deal with delays and distractions. Whenever I think I have my day well planned, I can almost guarantee God will send someone my way to mess up my schedule. I’m sure God enjoys this. I can hear God saying to St Peter: “Hey Pete, watch me mess up Scott’s iPhone calendar for today!” I’m never happy about this, but I’ve come to realize that it’s God’s way of reminding me that to God people are more important than schedules. And that means they better be more important to me.

A few Sundays ago as I left Augusta in the afternoon, I was riding on my spare tire due to a nail my regular tire had taken earlier. The writing on the side of the spare tire said: “Do Not Exceed 50 MPH!” That wouldn’t do. I had to get back to Savannah. I wouldn’t make it in time if I were limited to 50 MPH. Of course, being Sunday afternoon, there were no auto repair shops open. So I took a chance and pulled into an auto parts store. There I met Pedro. I told him I had a nail in my tire. He said they sold a patch kit for $9 and he got it for me. I thanked him and told him that normally I could do the repair myself, but I just had surgery and the doctor told me not to lift anything heavy. He said: “No problem.” He went out, got the flat tire out of my car, and repaired the nail damage right there in the store. He then got a brand new tire jack off the shelf, broke open the packaging, jacked up my car with it, and put the repaired tire back on. Oh my!

I went to the counter to pay for the patch kit and for Pedro’s work while he was putting the jack back in its packaging and returning it to the proper aisle. I told the young lady at the cash register that I was in a hurry and I asked her how much I owed. She said: “Just $9 for the patch kit. The rest was just Pedro being Pedro. And you know,” and she leaned across the counter and whispered, “He was just diagnosed with breast cancer and is having a tough time waiting for the surgery.” God did it yet again. Suddenly getting back to Savannah on time seemed the least important thing to do in my life.

I paid her and walked over to where Pedro was putting the jack back on the shelf. I said to him: “I have breast cancer, too. That was the surgery I told you about. It would be my privilege if you’d let me pray for you.” He just nodded. So right there in the aisle where the jacks were kept, we commenced praying. And we went on at some length. I prayed for him and then he prayed for me and then I prayed for him again. I hadn’t realized I was using my “church voice,” so when I looked around, everyone in the crowded store was watching us. I don’t know for sure, but it wouldn’t surprise me to learn that Pedro’s last name was Emmanuel, which, as you know, means “God with us.”

+Scott