27 Minutes

I found nowhere to sit in Starbucks, for my tiny window of 27 minutes of book rewriting time, but let me tell you what I saw. 

He wasn't any taller than me and was only a few years older.  He stooped yet stepped concisely, as he tucked himself into the tiniest corner available.  I saw no beverage before him.  He stared out the window through thick glasses with his emblem covered cap on his head and large earphones adjusted snuggly over his ears.  His Nascar leather jacket hung loosely over his narrow frame.

As I left, he scooted out the door ahead of me, with a look of intensity on his face.  He then immediately sat on an outdoor chair.  A car drove up to the curb, and out of the backseat climbed a lanky young man. He displayed an extra-wide grin as he struggled to steady his feet on the pavement below him.  He waved timidly and the friend who knew him greeted him back.  They were glad.  

I turned to capture the vacant seat that the first friend had left inside, but I was too late.  I'd seen what I was meant to see.  I sipped my soy latte with a lump in my throat as I walked away from their joy filled moment. 

This morning I'd read from John, "The Word became flesh and dwelt among us."  Their tender greeting, their friendship, their courage in facing this complex world with plans and purpose blessed me.  The Lord is among us.  How kind He is to draw us into loving those He loves especially tenderly; those who are described in the Beatitudes.   May we be anxious to greet each other, so glad to make time to sit together and have courage to embrace our own days in this way!  My minutes are up, I am so thankful to have shared them with you!