It was a damp, cool night. People were walking around in Old Town, but there weren't many of them. The guy I saw was coming toward me on the other side of the street. Cradled in his arm was something inside a white paper bag.
He crossed the street at an angle, heading toward the Hotel at Old Town. That's when I stopped him. He was probably 55, dressed casually. I asked if I could ask him something. He stopped there in the middle of the street. "Sure," he said in a friendly tone, "but I'm not from here."
But I didn't need directions. As we moved toward the side of the street, I asked if I could pray for him. He paused a second and then said, "Sure." I told him that I wanted to say a quick prayer for him right then. His demeanor changed immediately. He shook his head and then put his head down and brushed past me. I had to turn almost completely around to keep my eyes on him.
"I'm a Christian," he said as he was walking away. "I'm a Lutheran. But this is weird." And then he was gone, even as I thanked him for at least talking to me. That's the second time someone has outright told me that praying for someone, a stranger in the street, is weird.
All I could do was shrug, be content in my weirdness and pray for him.
Scripture: "Patient endurance is what you need now, so that you will continue to do God's will. Then you will receive all that he has promised." Hebrews 10:36
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