I was the only car in the McDonald’s drive-up lane. The kid who handed me the milkshake was about 18 and extraordinarily confused when I asked him my question. He pulled the headset away from his ear, to make sure he heard it right. “I’m sorry?” he said. I repeated: “Can I pray for you?” He paused, a stunned silence. “For what?” he asked finally. “I don’t know. I just like to pray for people,” I said. He still wasn’t convinced but half-heartedly agreed. But I’m pretty sure he didn’t mean it. At that point, I told him not to worry, that it wouldn’t take long. He straightened up then. “No, I’ve got to take an order,” he said. Then he walked off. The sliding glass window quietly slid shut. I’m still not entirely convinced he was telling the truth, based on the looks of the drive-up line behind me as I drove away.
But I couldn’t help but laughing as I drove home. In reality, it’s not really funny, these reactions some people give. I guess it’s just so out of the blue, something so unusual, people don’t know how to process it. And some are incredibly uncomfortable with the idea of having a stranger pray for them. Mostly, it seems to me, they’re suspicious. I’m still processing this. Is it that Christians have done such a poor job of loving the world, alienating people? And there are some Christians (I’m certainly one) who are just clumsy in how they share the news. Some are pushy. Others have some unique views of the Bible. But there are a lot of people out there who are very reluctant to accept a prayer.
As an aside, my McDonald’s experience came after we’d had lunch that day at Pizza Hut. I was intent to pray for the waitress before we left. The service was a bit slow, and she seemed absent-minded. In any event, after our food was served, we never saw her again. Mary had to go to the front desk to get a box for the leftovers. And later, I had to do the same to track down our check. Our waitress still got a tip. But she doesn't know someone's praying for her.
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