A Gentle Transformation
By Mark
Our walk had been uneventful up to the time we arrived at the N.W. corner of Main and Hastings Streets, directly across the street from the “clock corner.” It was a Friday night, still light out and quite warm as we walked, and we were all wearing our red Agape t-shirts instead of jackets. On this particular night, there were only three of us: Judy, Karen and myself with Judy as the core person. She and Karen began talking to a woman who had approached them and I did what I always do when they are busy and stood there keeping a watchful eye on things in the area immediately around us.
There really isn’t any nice way to describe what happened next. There were two men sitting or leaning against the wall of the building behind us. One of them, for no apparent reason other than the fact that he was probably drunk, started to yell at us with some of the foulest language I have ever heard.
“Get the *&#$ out of here,” he shouted. I glanced back for a second just to make sure he was directing his tirade at us and then I looked away, eager for it not to escalate into something that everyone was going to regret. He continued barking at us to “leave this area right &$%# now” or else “he was going to do something to us that we would wish for a very long time had never happened.”
His outburst went on for a minute or so, and he even once or twice came up quite close behind me but he never laid a hand on me. The foul language got worse if that’s possible, and not being sure what else to do, I continued to ignore him and also to pray that he would leave us alone. Finally, “Hey chrome-dome, I’m talking to you,” he screamed.
Now that hurt.
He then started yelling at the Judy and Karen, calling them the B-word and essentially telling them the same thing, to “…get the “&*#$ out of here” and all sorts of other nasty things! This went on for a few more moments and people were beginning to congregate around us because of the commotion this guy was causing. I was afraid that things might get out of hand and finally I just couldn’t take it any more, I had to say something
As members of Agape street teams, and respecting the reasons that we are on the street in the first place, we are trained to not get into confrontations with people when we walk. So I slowly turned around, intending to ask him as politely as possible to “shut up” but as I turned and just as our eyes met, I half-heartedly lifted my arm and the words that came out were, “God bless you!”
Right away, his outburst stopped and he stood there looking at me. So I continued, politely saying “You know what? We are just trying to do a job here. We’re trying to help someone who really needs us. Do you think you could leave us alone for another minute and we’ll be gone?”
I turned back to the women, and except for the normal noise of Hastings Street and the people around us, there was complete silence from him and his friend. At that point, I didn’t even know if Karen or Judy were aware of what had just happened. The adrenaline was still pumping and my senses were on full alert as I stood there, my heart pounding like a drum. What felt like forever but was probably only a minute later, I felt a little tap on my shoulder.
“What now?” I thought, and not knowing what to expect, I slowly turned around. He was standing there, head down, looking at the sidewalk and in a calm, very quiet, almost meek voice he said, “I’m really sorry for all those things I said to you and I want to apologize. I feel badly about what I said and if I could take it all back I would.”
I was stunned for a moment, not really knowing what to say. This was the last thing I expected after witnessing all the rage and anger I had seen coming from him a few moments ago. This was such a complete turnaround in his behavior that for a few seconds, all I could do was stand there and look at him. Even his friend, who was still over by the building behind us, was standing there staring at us in what looked like total disbelief.
I put my hand on his shoulder and said “Listen. It’s OK and I accept your apology. You know that little voice in your head that told you should come over here and apologize to me? That’s the voice that you should be listening to all the time. I think you were listening to a diff erent voice a few minutes ago, one that was telling you all the wrong things, one that doesn’t care about you or what happens to you. You need to stop listening to that voice and when you leave, think about what I just told you and start listening to the voice that does care, the one that will lead you in the right direction. God loves you; He has a plan for you and He will reveal it to you if you would just ask Him”.
He never said a word. He just turned, nodded to his friend who then joined him, and they walked off down the street.
Eyebrows raised, I turned my attention back to Judy and Karen who were still talking to the woman (I don’t think they ever even noticed what had happened). As I stood there I thought of how amazing it was to see this man go from an almost blind fit of rage and hatred to humble and repentant in the blink of an eye. I sometimes think about that man and wonder what has happened in his life since that night.
Maybe it was the “God bless you” that made him re-think
what he was saying to us. Maybe it was a special blessing from God.
In the days that followed and the more I thought about it, the more
I felt that this was the due to the grace of God the Father, through
His Son Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit working through us. Other
people to whom I have told this story say that it is a miracle the
way he reacted. God bless you.
