A Weekend Read May 13 2012!
Only A
Homeless Man:( A
fictional story by Adena)
The nights were becoming
colder and there weren’t many places to sleep that gave shelter from the wind
and changing seasons. He had managed
some hot food at the shelter but there were no beds left unspoken for so he
wandered aimlessly through the dusk until it became too dark to search any
longer. He knew of a place under an
overpass where pipes ran over land. There
was warmth there and he remembered leaving a good piece of cardboard with some
old coats there several nights ago. It
seemed like it was pretty close by.
As he lay down from
exhaustion and loss of will to go on, it wasn’t long before he craved sleep,
perhaps a time of pleasant dreams when things were different.
He wasn’t sure why he was
even still alive. What gave him this
undisputed will to go on, to hold on to the sanctity of life? It seemed as if ending it all would be the
reasonable answer. Who would care? No one would really miss him, would they?
His thoughts continued to
return to another time...............”The party was jumping’, the booze tasted
sweet and the women were delicious. The
evening was young and he was having a “ball”.
The career had fallen into his lap and he was a success! He knew he was climbing the corporate ladder
soon to be one of the top execs in the company!
Sure, there were a few things that bothered him but he was learning to
ignore them and pretend they weren’t happening.
His conscience didn’t seem to get in the way like it had at first. He learned
to avert his eyes and look to other aspects of the operation telling himself
that everything was fine!
As he continued to climb, the company flourished and
his lifestyle became a succession of parties, women, booze and drugs.
It was times like this when
he allowed his thoughts to wander and get away from him that he needed to
remember the good times, he thought it kept him sane. He always had a faint
pleasant memory of one special woman who was, somehow a little different than
the other party girls, Jenine was her name.
Funny how he could always recall her name. He couldn’t put his finger on it but there
was definitely something about her................something that brought him
comfort in his despair. “Why” he
wondered?
His thoughts drifted to the
horrible court scene where he was charged with embezzlement and he vividly
remembered the eighteen-month jail sentence.
Most people thought that after eighteen months behind bars, a person
would learn and be able to recover but it wasn’t that way with him. The only job he could find was washing dishes
in a ‘greasy spoon’ cafe. He remembered
thinking he was too good for this kind of employment and refused to do it any
longer. It was the beginning of the
spiral that led him to where he was today. His only companions were his
thoughts and memories.
Each day was lonely but the
nights were indescribable. How could he
have let this happen? The unfortunate
thing was, he knew exactly why things were as they were. He relived it every day.
He seldom allowed himself to
remember farther back, to when he was a child.
His boyhood had been
‘happy’, that word was certainly foreign
but he had been ‘happy’ when he was at
home with his family. He had felt loved
by his parents but their rules and regulations were beyond following and they
left little room for independence and creativity.
When he was offered the
‘job’, before he graduated from college, he knew he had to accept it. He also knew his Father was relying on him to
carry on the family business; but surely they did not expect him to say “no” to
this offer.
He had a quick mind and this
offer would allow him to use it.
Besides, the salary, a new car and unlimited expense account were
nothing to ‘scoff’ at. The position had
been described as a business offer that could lead to a partnership in a short
time with a new and vibrant company. It
involved shuffling papers and moving huge amounts of money from one account to
another, often from one country to another.
As time progressed, he became
proficient at what he was expected to do and evolved into a respected member of
the company. What did his parents know
about big business anyway? And so he
threw himself into his new career and forgot about his parents. It had been years since he had seen them or
even bothered to visit. He was absolutely finished with the family rules and
their beliefs, which had come from that intolerant church they were attending.
And what about this God that his parents worshipped anyway? Where was he now?
He awoke with his head
throbbing and the never ending drumming of incessant rain pounding on the
surrounding concrete. His “bedroom” was
being invaded by rivulets of water soaking into his “bed linen”. He soon realized his state of weakness
brought about from hunger and cold and neglect to his physical being. As he slowly managed to lift himself from his
despairing situation, he began his ritual search for a morsel of sustenance to
help him face another day of meager existence.
As he forced himself to
stagger up the steep embankment to the street, he could make out the forms of
others who were slowly making their way to the shelter as well. He approached the mission, and heard
beautiful music and singing that seemed trancelike and didn’t belong here in
this area. The call of the melodious
notes beckoned him until he was standing inside the little mission, which he
had so often ignored.
The singing was coming to a
close and he felt like he should move on but just then a woman was introduced
as ‘Jenine” the speaker of the morning.
A strange sensation welled up inside him as he realized this was the
‘Jenine’ of his past.
His thoughts ran
rampid and the last thing he wanted was for her to recognize him. He felt like he should run but his feet
seemed to be nailed to the floor and it was impossible for him to move. As she started to speak, it was as if she was
only speaking to him. The words were
only for him and they were not words of condemnation but comforting, forgiving,
invitations of love from God himself.
He
heard the love story of how Jesus came and sacrificed His life so that everyone
could be forgiven and have eternal life and a relationship with Jesus
himself. He remembered hearing similar
messages like this before but it had never been for him. Never like today by this woman from his
past. It was difficult to wait until she
finished speaking before he ran into the arms of Jesus to beg for
forgiveness. The most important thing
was to be forgiven by this Jesus. She
said He was willing to forgive no matter what one had done. The tears were streaming down his face, tears
he had not allowed himself to shed for years.
They came as a flood and after some time, he remembered craving to beg
forgiveness and after that came the calmness and peace which defied understanding. It seemed he only had to lie there and accept
this love that surrounded him. Soon the angelic voices began to sing once more
and the next few hours were a blur but he knew he would never be the same
again.
Jenine came to him and
related how she had been praying for him for several years. It seemed she had spent time on probation
after the company dissolved. During this
time she became a believer and spent her spare time giving her testimony to
whoever would listen.
After spending time with the
people at the mission he found himself thirsting for more of Jesus. It seemed he could not get enough of
Him. He knew his sins were forgiven and
the burdens of the past were gone!
After several weeks, he and
Jenine became more than friends he knew that this was not coincidence.
One day, he felt compelled
to look up his family. Jenine was by his side when an ageing white haired man
opened the door. There was no
hesitation, the physical outstretched arms of love were once again around him
and he knew he was exactly where he should be.
His Father’s reaction was, “ My Son, who was dead is alive again.”
