Thank You Lord

As I walk through the University lunchroom I pray 'Lord, who do you want me to talk to,' under my breath. A pair of guys at the end of the table closest to the cashier caught my eye. The word this afternoon about the resurrection came to mind, so leading with "have you guys ever heard of the resurrection" we were off.

"OH! I do NOT want to hear about this!" Guy number 1 replies. Number 2 nods.

"Well, alright. I'll leave y'all alone," I assure," but sometimes the Lord wants to tell us stuff even when we don't want to hear it." I pause, asking the Lord for any words.

"YOU NEED TO RESPECT THEM," this 30-something guy begins demands. "STOP FORCING PEOPLE TO BELIEVE WHAT YOU THINK. YOU'RE FORCING YOUR BELIEFS ON PEOPLE," now finished packing he gathers his pack and marches in my direction still yelling.

A little taken aback, I try to explain that I can't force anyone to believe anything and that these two are free to believe what they will. His shouting only escalates, but he soon decides he's repeated himself enough and stomps off. A dissonant silence resumes. Watching from their lunches, students picked up their pizzas again. "Well, God bless y'all," I say to the silent two. I depart.

I sat down with Park next. He's a graduate student from Japan and unfamiliar with the Gospel. Honest and transparent he permits me to sit and share the Good News with him. Meanwhile, the two and my accuser have regrouped, but I try to ignore it as Park asks about what Jesus preached.

"So, Jesus said that the Kingdom of -"
"What's your name?," said the accuser now standing beside us.
"I'm Rus. How about you?" I replied.
"NO. What's your full name?!" he demanded, yanking a paper out of his pocket.
"I'm Russell Lyons. Two s's, two l's. L-y-o-n-s." He scribbles this down and again marches off, my "God Bless" on his heals.

Park and I finish up with little progress and this concludes another day in the UC.