As we begin our day today here at Webbville we are listening to the Staple Singers and working to make sense of it all. Which of course is deep water. Sometimes you tread water and sometimes you glide through with each stroke, always hoping working to stay afloat and remain positive.
This guy came through Waxahachie many years ago. My friend the tombstone maker in town, Rob Montgomery called me to say he had seen someone he knew I would be interested in…a street preacher with a puppet and a megaphone. All three attractive to moi.
I jumped in my car with a bottle of water as bait to talk to the preacher on the steamy day and drove quickly to the intersection where the man was set up.
He had a glow. It may sound cheezy, but truly the man had a glow, a sparkle, an aura, a specialness that I could see and feel as soon as I was in his presence.
He immediately made me feel welcome and there I was to make him feel welcome. I hardly knew how to respond and was every sense of the word dumbfounded. He spoke in short answers to my questions, each seeming more and more unnecessary. He had complete faith that his Lord guided his every move….the creating of the puppet and the identity of the puppet was one of the first steps. The puppet was the conduit to share his feelings, his faith, and the message he felt drawn to share. I bonded with that puppet immediately.
He was so joyful and I relished in his sincere presence. I have spent an adulthood seeking out the sincere presence of people and have always understood what a jewel each minute in that presence can be. It is the moment when you stop to polish that jewel, admire the jewel, and made even touch or wear the jewel.
I believe we have the gift of being sincerely present, but it is the deep water. It is the rich blue beautiful water. And this man did not need my bottle of water. He was already wading in the water.