When Past Meets Present
An opportunity to serve the Lord in Mexico revives memories of the past and provides opportunities for discernment.
NOTESDIVINE APPOINTMENTS
Trace Pirtle
2 min read
Pastor Dwight blasted through the double doors at McDonald's like a man on fire, on a mission, or both. He gathered his muffin and senior coffee from Maria at the counter and sat down with a thud on the bench across from me.
I could tell he had something on his heart that his mind was struggling to say. I sensed that something was different.
Yes, he was growing a white beard, minus the moustache. He appeared more Amish than Baptist. I imagined that if I looked outside in the parking lot, two horses and a carriage would be hitched up in one of the spots.
After the usual talk about world insanity and the imminent return of Jesus, Pastor Dwight said that he was preparing for a trip to rural Mexico to officiate a wedding. He asked me if I’d like to come along.
My mind wandered down a dusty road I walked along in Mexico in 1995. Memories of the adventure competed for my attention as I saw the backpack slung over my shoulder, the bus filled with people, each sweating and smelling as ripe as cantaloupe left in the sun too long. Live chickens hung in baskets outside the bus. Tejano music blared, drowning out any potential conversation. Some stereotypes are based in reality.
In my memory, I revisited the beaches, the nighttime cervezas, and all the accompanying sin. I was on a soul-searching mission to “find myself” somewhere between “Lost and Found” in rural Mexico.
The image of a strawberry raspa (snowcone) was especially vivid. A man shaved ice off a block of ice that rested on the dirt street in an old burlap sack. The water from the nearby river was used for this block of ice, washing clothes, swimming, bathing, and who knew what else.
A voice sounded in my head just as I had heard over 30 years ago: “DON’T EAT THE SNOW CONE!”
But no. I felt invincible and immortal.
I ate the snow cone right along with the pretty senorita who suggested we get one. Does this sound remarkably familiar to a story we know in Genesis? Don't eat the apple, Adam! But I digress.
The snow cone nearly killed me and ended my great soul-searching adventure. All pun intended, that adventure left a very bad taste in my mouth.
I snapped back to reality when Pastor Dwight asked me why I hadn’t been in church lately and if I was interested in the Mexico trip.
Travel in Mexico in 1995 was still relatively safe, but these days, not so much. I jokingly asked him if he supplied a flak jacket and helmet. He said, “I can’t guarantee you won’t get sick, shot, or killed. But hey, you’ve experienced adventures in the military and elsewhere before. This is just another one!”
As I mentioned earlier, something was different about Pastor Dwight beyond the beard. But I’m wondering if what’s changed is me. My adventures never included Jesus as my traveling companion. Now I am hearing a similar “Don’t eat the snow cone!” voice in my mind.
Is this the Holy Spirit alerting me to pass on the Mexico adventure? Or is the enemy offering me a detour around an opportunity to support a brother in Christ?
This will require wisdom and discernment! To be continued...
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