Thursday, January 18, 2007

Bernie at Best Buy

So my son is sick today and can't go to school so I am watching him till noon. We made our usual trek to Best Buy because that's what the boys do when they are home alone. I pick up 2 1GB SD cards for my new Cannon SD600 because they were on sale for $19.99. Then we look lustfully at all the flat screen tv's and stategize how we can purchase one shortly. I picked up "Crash" on DVD for a video I'm shooting for the next Anthem art show and then we check out. As we get in the car I see a familiar face...Bernie. He's an older black man that has offered to wash my windows before. I told him we were actually leaving and he said he could be really quick. I really felt God telling me to quit being a jerk and let him wash your windows. So he proceeded to wash my windows with great care. As he was doing it I sat in the car with my son and tried to explain to him the situation and how Jesus looked after the less fortunate and asks us to do the same thing. I gave him the $5 I had in my wallet and then I noticed my prized Starbucks card, and that reluctantly came out as well. Then I asked him about how he's doing and he informed me that he had ulcers in his leg that turned into a stage 4 staff infection and he lost his job. So he's out there washing windows every day to pay for a hotel room that he rents by the day. He told me he could tell that I was "with the Lord" and I really felt compelled to pray for him and he really appreciated it. As I was leaving I gave him my zip up hoodie because I know it's gotta be freezing doing that all day. He said, "I can't take the cloths off your back" and I assured him that I had more than I ever needed. So if you're ever out at Best Buy, look for Bernie and hook him up if you have the means. He's a really cool guy that needs some help. Jesus continually shows me how much I have and how much I have to give to others. I think we owe more to the poor than charity. They need friends and people that really care about them. It's ridiculous in a place like Riverside where people are constantly debating about what size plasma to purchase that we have people that live on the street and struggle every day to get by. I decided on my way home that I have plenty of crap in my house...more than I could ever want. I'd like to live more of my life trying to help others with their basic needs. Please don't read this as me being a spiritual superhero. I suck all the time and overlook the least everyday. It's just refreshing when you do some of the things during the day that Jesus would probably be doing during his day. Thanks Bernie...I saw Jesus in you today!

19 comments:

Anonymous said...

Yes, but you can also see Jesus everyday in Passion Of The Christ in 60 inches of plasma glory........ man the sarcasm is dripping thick.

your post was inspiring. thanks man

Anonymous said...

thats really cool Dan, yea I still have to catch myself every once and a while thinking that if someone is in need (even if they don't ask for it) that I should serve them the best I can.

Loving Neighbors,
Micah

Anonymous said...

Jesus wouldn't have blogged about it.

Anonymous said...

wow.
anonymous is tryin to be deep.
it actually makes me wonder...if JC physically roaming the earth in 2007, would he have a blog? if he did, the site would probably have so many hits that it would be shut down or load up really slow like amazon.com at christmas.


anyhow, thanks for sharing dan. it's an encouraging, humbling reminder. the homeless of riverside have really been on my heart a lot lately. and befriending and visiting them on a regular basis is in the back of my mind. we should make something happen.

okay, my comment is getting long. i will stop now.

Anonymous said...

I still don't think he'd blog about it... Matthew 6. If he had a blog he wouldn't be talking about anything that HE was doing - HE would just do it. His blogs would probably be more like a Jesus version of the Daily Show where he would be calling out pastors and government leaders on their stupidity. Not that John Stewart is a Christ figure... I don't mean to be-little the author of this blog or anything but lately I have been checking out some "Christian" blogs and no one seems to be getting real. Just thought I would stir the pot a little.

Anonymous said...

Go ahead... be honest. This blog is filled with self-important, gag-worthy ramblings. There's nothing "real" about it. But that's the way Christian-born Christians that surround themselves exclusively with other Christians roll. They applaud themselves every time they have any kind of interaction with someone outside their intimate Christian circle. Congrats, reverend...

Anonymous said...

well, if we wanted to get technical about Matthew 6 - without considering specific context - we could also say that we should never pray outside of our dark encosed rooms. and even then we would only pray what is known as "the Lord's prayer" - ergo Dan shouldn't have prayed for Bernie on the spot, right? i'd have to disagree with that.

Jesus may or may not have his very own blog - who knows? what i DO know is that as technology has progressed and the intimate connection of people has declined, this little thing we call "blog" allows a connection that we might not otherwise hold with one another. while you may see it as not "real", i often find people being more real in their blogs than in person(not all people of course, but plenty of people i know) which is why i enjoy reading them. sure, a funny video and a bit of self-promotion can come along with the territory of blogging, but dan's blog about bernie is probably one of the most "real" one's he has posted. one that i appreciate.

blogging is a form of community that allows for reflection, encouragement, education and even a few laughs along the way. sounds pretty real to me.

i appreciate your willingness to "stir the pot" a little...it's always enjoyable to engage and learn of/from various mindframes.

rev rock said...

Hey anonymous (that's not really your name...is it?) I appreciate your insight. I like my blog, I've never intended it to be a "Christian" blog. As you've noticed I do talk about my life...what cereal I like and interactions I have with homeless people. I'm not trying to "be real". I'm trying to tell other friends about what's going on in my life so I can build a bigger community of friends through this. Every once in a while I'll be serious and more often then not I'll blog something stupid. Thanks for taking the time to read my blog though, I appreciate it. I'd love to get to know you so we don't have these weird inpersonal rants to each other. My name is Dan...what's yours? Everyone else, be nice to anonymous. I'd like to keep my blog positive.

Anonymous said...

Best post of 2007 so far.

Anonymous said...

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Anonymous said...

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