Day 16: Looking for a book

I felt like I cheated today. Mary said I didn’t. But if you go and stand in the Christian section of the bookstore and look at the guy next to you, chances are he’s a Christian. And he was.


He was an older gentleman standing not two feet from me, perusing the titles. I finally mustered the courage, put down my book and asked if he was a Christian. He said he was, and I asked if I could pray for him. Puzzled, he engaged me in a series of questions then, starting with “about what?” I told him anything, that I’d felt called by God to pray for people. He seemed to find that a reasonable response, and then asked me about my profession, where I worked and where I went to church. Finally, he let me pray for him. I just asked for God’s blessing on him.


We talked a bit longer. He was a little detached -- and hard of hearing. I discovered he attended a Baptist church on the east side. He was holding a couple of Chuck Colson books in his hand, which he said he really liked. But he had been looking for books by an author named Tony Campolo. I’d never heard of him. After a bit of a search, we were able to locate one Campolo book, but it wasn’t the one my new friend was looking for. We talked a little more and then I left.


It was a pleasant meeting, but for some reason, I didn’t feel like I accomplished much.


Scripture of the day: “Therefore, since through God’s mercy we have this ministry, we do not lose heart. Rather, we have renounced secret and shameful ways; we do not use deception, nor do we distort the word of God. On the contrary, by setting forth the truth plainly, we commend ourselves to every man’s conscience in the sight of God.” – 2 Corinthians 4:1-2.