The Golden Ticket…and lost sheep..
I met a guy at a wing shop last night..his name was Jay, he called me Max because i told him my name was Max, its convenient for take-out and restaurants..sometimes I use the name Ulysses…that is even harder but it starts a lot of conversations..I had walked in with daughter after our work-out and I was treating her to some wings..
The wing place was the typical shitty little storefront type that are all over in Atlanta, run by an immigrant family in this case I am assuming Korean but could have been ethnic Chinese. The guy Jay is clearly the owner’s son, and he was very dynamic, meanwhile I was holding the golden ticket, (I will explain the Golden Ticket in a minute) and while his mom was taking my daughter’s order he asked my why I was so happy, I looked him dead in the eye and asked “Do you believe in God?” his response was immediate and swift, “there is no God”, I literally laughed right in his face, I couldn’t help it..it was a laugh like this “HA!! HA! HO!!” (ima big guy and this was a serious belly laugh from me!) and then I followed up with the Jackie Chan lunge to the spiritual jugular: “I’ve met God face to face, no lie!” his response “what the hell are you talking about?” and I asked again “do you believe in God, here read this..and I handed him the Golden Ticket” he read for a few minutes “What the fuck is this?, whats this about sacrifice and killing it?”
I invited him to sit with me and made his mom charge me for two beers so that he could drink with me..
Suffice it to say that this young man (age 27) sat down and drank a beer with me and we wrestled mentally, turns out his mom is a Christian and he himself is fighting God with every fiber of his being, angry beyond belief. I finally cut to the chase with him when I told him that we are just having mental masturbation and lets get real. I cut him to core when I asked him if his parents knew God…
We didn’t finish our conversation but as my daughter and I walked out I told him I was coming back to talk some more and how much I enjoyed the argument. He yelled down the strip mall, ”HEY, FUCKING CRAZY MAX! BRING YOUR BIBLE NEXT TIME” “YOU KNOW YOUR FUCKING CRAZY” I yelled back to him that I was honored but won’t be bringing my bible (not yet…heh heh heh, I’m bringing my Daddy!)
Last night as I lay praying, the story of the Lost Sheep floated to my mind, its been on my mind a lot, and I started praying for Jay, I think i’m going to go over and ask him to lunch/dinner I want to hear his story, I think God is in this…I’m not bringing my bible, for some reason I think he has been beat with the bible, I’m going to bring some of what God has given me..Love…the bible, if possible, will come later..
Let me finish by saying what is this “Golden Ticket”? Well I can’t share it right now, its a secret!! but imagine if you will,
Taking everything you loved, the most secret parts of you, every dream, every hope, every fear, every flaw, piled it on top of a mound of kindling then poured out five gallons of gas, reached out to God for the very strength you need to then flick that lighter and burn it all down..and then you feel the energy course through you to go ahead and do it…
I did it…I climbed up on that altar too, and lit the match…
The Golden Ticket is the letter that I needed back, written by a friend…
My offering was accepted…
God was/is honored..
I will share more later…from the Sweetest part of the South, the Dogwoods say hello, the Men are men, the Women, well what can I say, “Yoww!” and all the children are above average!”
-Beauty for Ashes