What's For Dinner?

     Who fixed your dinner at the restaurant you ate at recently?  It wasn’t the manager of the place or the waiter who took your order, but the cook.  One of these cooks is Dan.  Dan is khakified.  He’s the type of guy you wouldn’t notice, you don’t acknowledge his role in society and you don’t care.  Dan doesn’t walk out the front door every night like the customers.  No, he leaves work through the backdoor, going home to his family with the money he has earned, a lifestyle of living paycheck to paycheck.

     Let me tell you about Dan.  I sat down with Dan at McDonalds.  At first I did not recognize him, being all cooped up to escape from the bite of winter and deeply involved with his studying of the Bible.  As a matter of fact, he spotted me, and moved from his spot for my convenience.  As we began to converse, I realized how deep his faith was, embedded in him unlike most people I have met.  But this was not the kind of attitude expected from a former drug user and dealer.  Yes, as Dan told to me, a high school buddy of his had approached him around the age of twenty-two to leave his job as a short-order cook and sell drugs with him in Atlanta, Georgia.  Seeing this as a great opportunity to “get rich quick,” Dan jumped at the chance.  Soon, he was moving drugs from city to city, state to state, but found himself wanting a change after a period of time.  He moved to Middle Tennessee and began to cook some more, but found himself back on drugs and selling drugs.  Eventually he was caught and served some time in jail; however, once he got out, he decided to try and put his life straight.  Unfortunately for Dan, he went to get his driver’s license back and they told him it would be three-thousand dollars.  Well, Dan did not have that kind of money, so he went to Atlanta to sell more drugs.  The worst came to Dan at this point, a life-changing event; Dan had an epileptic seizure.  He was found by the side of the road by a policeman, who thought Dan was dead.  He rushed him to the hospital in time to save his life and from that moment on, Dan was a changed man.  He resettled in Middle Tennessee, began cooking again at various restaurants and then found Jesus.  When asked what do you want someone (the world, you kids) to know about you?, he responded, “That I love Jesus and that Jesus will help you through any obstacle that you come in contact with.” 

     Now Dan has a Bible study with one of his friends once a week, he helps manage a community garden, he is currently counseling his neighbor on the Bible to help him get rid of his neighbor’s drug addiction, and the most interesting thing he does is walking once a week through the ghetto and simply picking up trash.  This act is important to Dan from the view that he is, “just helping out by demonstration.”  He does all of this while working a full-time job at a restaurant and making very little money.  Certainly, it would seem only fair that Dan was given credit for his good deed, but he does what he does without the incentive of publicity.  As Dan says, “in every walk of life there’s an opportunity,” you just have to “be a willing-vessel.”  This attitude is one which all should strive to create in themselves and one which should be noted as a great accomplishment for those who succeed.

Fried Chicken

Yesterday, I attended a Christmas lunch day for some of the less-fortunate people in town.  The lunch allowed people to come eat some fried chicken and also, if they brought their kids, pick up a present for them, pre-wrapped and all.  I came for about forty minutes, talking to a few people and helping out a little when I was needed, but most of the time there I was standing and watching those who were receiving the food and gifts.  Just watching these men, women, and children interact was moving.  They came and enjoyed the company of friends and strangers alike, regardless of age or skin color.  The people were laughing and were engaging and you couldn’t help but feel a part of some unified group, standing together and for the good of each other.  Later, as I was reading in William Sloane Coffin’s book, Credo, I came across this quote, “The primary problems of the planet arise not from the poor, for whom education is the answer; they arise from the well-educated, for whom self-interest is the problem.”  The quote allowed me to put a thought into words; that the group of mixed and messy people who were sharing lunchtime together have little self-interest in terms of personal gain.  Sure, some steal and do drugs, but many times this is merely to meet the bare essentials which their family needs to survive, or to cope with some pain unimaginable to us.  It is true that if these men and women were better educated there would be less negative activity, but when you grow up in the environment of a broken family, drugs, and theft, it becomes nearly impossible to get out of that style of living.  Carl Marable, the lunch organizer, stopped a girl going in to eat and said, “How long ‘till you graduate?”  The girl responded, “I don’t know if I will,” and continued to walk inside.  Mr. Marable yelled after her, “You better graduate and alert me so I can give you twenty-five dollars.”  With no response from the girl, Mr. Marable turned, looked at my father and said, “You think she’ll graduate for twenty-five dollars?”  My father jokingly responded, “I wouldn’t,” and laughed.