Sometimes one single action changes your view of a person.
There is a man who often rides my commuter bus. Ever since I spotted the Darwin fish on his backpack, I have kept a respectable distance from him. My limited personal experience with those sporting that symbol has been less than positive.
That respectable distance increased when I overheard him express his political and anti-religion/anti-Christian views with another passenger not long after the President’s inauguration. Though not unexpected, I have never seen him be anything but polite to everyone, even in a potentially charged discussion. Yet, I admit I feel mild trepidation whenever he sits in the seat next to me.
This afternoon, I boarded the bus right behind him. He took the last available pair of seats. Not that any of my fellow passengers and I mind having someone sit right next to us, but we all do like having the extra room of an empty seat beside us.
No empty adjacent seat for me on this ride home. Or so I thought. As I began scanning my potential neighbors nearest me, Darwin pointed a few rows behind him and said with a smile, “There’s one more.”
“Thanks!”
“You bet.”
That simple act of kindness has again changed my view of him. This time for the better. We have many starkly opposing views. But I will sit beside him with less mild trepidation than I had before. Maybe we will even have a conversation about faith and what it means to follow Jesus Christ.
After all, Jesus had an open seat for me. Why couldn’t Jesus have an open seat for him as well?
waywardly Wayward 