What a Weekend

A 30-year-old black man from the South, and a nearly 70-year-old Mexican-American from the Southern Arizona did something unique this past weekend. The younger invited the elder, and together they caused a convergence similar to that of College Football. Yet, no inflated, brown pigskin was tossed around, and no TV crews were selling entertainment. And no one was face-planting into the sidewalk, drunk. In stadiums all across America, half the crowd went home disappointed and ashamed, but there, in Tallahassee, FL, among this rare group, no one went home like that. It was a time of sacrifice, selflessness, unity and uplifting. What a weekend.

This small group of about 15 people invaded the city known for Tomahawk chops and intimidating war-chants. This group was comprised of every age, color and ethnicity possible: from adolescent-age to some old enough to be grandparents (and some are!); Jamaica, Mexico, Haiti, Vietnam, and every color of America. However, the gridiron battlefield was not their destination. It was a small building, and an event this young pastor and veteran pastor conspired to create that brought them.

They devoted their entire day, literally sunup to sundown, to going door-to-door, face to face, reaching out to complete strangers… nothing mattered except that they are human beings, and God knows and loves them. They broke the psychological vestiges of protocols from yesteryear. Hundreds, if not thousands, were touched.

Transcendent Relationships

Years ago, a troubled, aimless adolescent walked into a church and began a life-transforming journey. A couple years later, a young lady who, to put it succinctly in her own words, “did not understand her own self-worth,” walked into that same church and began her own journey. Now married and with a family, they are the reason all these people made this journey. That’s a story too long and grand for this post. 

And then factor in how Pastor Jeremiah invited Pastor Gonalez because of the recommendation of nearly 70-year-old white man, who just happens to be his pastor.

Maybe TV cameras should have been present.

The plot thickens.

No one came to learn about how to be become a millionaire in the next 18 months by flipping real estate or how to create the next futuristic start-up company. No one came out of coercion or was personally incentivized to come in any way. It was completely voluntary. And it was completely because of relationship. 

The stories of who knows who, and how each came to know each other is one that crisscrosses America, skips over borders and oceans and spans decades. But their relationships are not about yesterday. They are about now. Not living off an obligation to a commitment made long ago, but an active and vibrant life continually lived together because they want to. It was a weekend of relationships that transcended everything we are told cannot and should not.

Maybe that’s why Sunday was so electric. All those people plus about a dozen more, equally diverse in age, color, ethnicity and culture joined in. Some didn’t even know what they were walking into. But they walked out with gratitude and joy. No discord, depression or disillusion. Instead, it was all hope, victory, unity and truth.

We may be “average” people, and insignificant according to all social media metrics, but there was nothing average or insignificant about that weekend.

And then as we arrived back in town (in time for the evening church service), there awaited me two brothers I hadn’t seen in a year: friends from another town and another time. The elder is about to be deployed for (potential) combat in the Middle East and wanted to get together before he left.

I know this post may have rambled a bit and not seem like it really had a clear message of mental health or whatever else, but I just wanted to recap and share this action-packed and meaningful weekend. When you combine sacrifice, selflessness and commitment in relationships to each other and in Jesus, it produces a wealth nothing in this world can compare to.

What a weekend. What a life. Thank you, Jesus.