On the edge of the parking lot

She propped a leg on the curb and took some serious puffs on a dwindling cigarette, communicating stress. An older man, dressed in suspenders, a heavy blue-plaid flannel shirt, and pants belonging to a long-forgotten era, brought his pipe and importance to the edge of the curb. She flung her head one way, exhaling, her pony tail swishing, as the old man pointed left at an invisible idea. And then, he was gone. But unlike Joshua marching around Jericho, the old man puffed his pipe and waddled his way around the back side of the restaurant.

As i climbed into my seat and turned the ignition, I wrestled with what had happened in the parking lot. I watched the stressed girl walk back to her job inside the restaurant, while I passed a woman drinking coffee, walking on the curb edge like a little girl playing, and the old man heading toward the golden arches.

And I thought about them, three wandering souls, all looking stressed in one way or another, all exhibiting images of the lost, without a word of speech. I did not see a cigarette abuser, a pipe addict, or an old demented woman, I saw three people in need of comfort, compassion, and a better way in life.

Still, there are many today who would judge them, in the name of tolerance and liberal-thinking; they would be the first to attack a fellow human being. To malign them,  to scatter lies about them, to subjugate them…to bury them in a pit of darkness…that would make these dark fiends happy, to see their fellow men and women suffer so. These are the ones with consciences seared, closed minds to the things of God; the ones running head-first into destruction, seeking others to drag down with them. They speak lies until they believe it is truth, and speak lies against the truth. Their way is the only way, there is no tolerance for anyone else.

Pity them, pray for them, that their eyes be opened, that they repent before eternal darkness covers them. As Christ came for the three wandering souls in the parking lot, he surely came for even those so deep in the pit that hatred and destruction is all they know. God’s perfect plan is that all be delivered from that pit. It is the job of those who have a flashlight to spread the light around so those in darkness can first see they are in darkness and need to get out of it.

If you know the truth (and the truth sets you free), then pray for these unfortunates… and have mercy on those you see…wandering around the parking lot…