Write Now and Later

I had an odd moment this morning.

I took a walk to collect our mail around 11:30 a.m. On my way back home, a young black man pulled up to me and asked me for my name; I responded, “Why do you want to know my name?” He introduced himself and said he saw me, a black man walking, and wanted to ask me a question, and asked whether he should tell his truth or if that would make things worse. He took a rag from his lap and wiped the tears from his face, saying that he didn’t want to lose someone who was everything to him.

I asked him what he thought he should, and he told me that the Holy Spirit was telling him to be still. So, I shared my thoughts, which were to listen to what the Spirit is telling him and not to take it upon himself to fix the situation, no matter how chaotic things feel or out of control things appear. I let him know that I am not a fan of hardship, but sometimes hardship turns us into better versions of ourselves, and if he is not sure what the Holy Spirit is telling him to do, then seek that answer and go from there. I then told him my name and hoped that our conversation helped.

I don’t know why I responded the way I did nor do I understand the randomness of the moment. Maybe I was the catalyst for something he needed to hear.

When I got home, I went through the mail and found a letter from our HOA that contained a violation for garbage cans that belonged to our next-door neighbor. Luckily, that was an easy violation to fix.

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