Walking Man

In 1994 my family was living in Airway Heights, WA while my Mom was working at Fairchild AFB. It was a rough time in my life it was my third year of high school and my third high school due to the nomadic lifestyle of military families. I would actually come to love Washington State but hate my home life. My family seemed to be falling apart and I was a rebellious and withdrawn teenager. My escape from the turmoil of my home life was found in sports. Basketball was my preference but I was also a runner.

My spiritual life began here on the country roads of Washington State where I would spend my time running and reflecting on the difficulties of life. On one particular day I was out running on this abandoned little road where I had seen very few people. This day however, I could make out a figure on the horizon. It was moving toward me at a much slower rate of speed than I was going but as I got closer I could tell that it was a man.

Usually my practice would be to try and pick up the pace a little bit so the onlooker would be impressed with my running prowess. As I got closer however I felt somewhat uneasy. I could see the man was walking using a stick and he had a tired disheveled look about him. His hair was unkempt and was accompanied by a long brown beard. All I could think was, “Why is this guy out here in the middle of nowhere?”

The space between us was closing and while I calmed down some I was determined not to look at him and just pass by on the other side of the road. Once I got past I would pick the pace up and put more distance between us. I approached the man and it looked as if he had been walking for weeks and that he was fairly harmless since he appeared to have little energy. Our paths crossed and I continued on my way.

Seconds after I passed and was about to pick the pace up I heard a voice. It seemed like an eternity but in just a few seconds I went through about a thousand scenarios of what this man might say. I stopped running and turned toward him and he asked me, “Do you know how to get to the Little Falls Dam?” It was a simple question and I felt silly for having worried about the interaction that might occur. My answer was simply that I had no idea but I thought it was in that general direction (I pointed to the northeast).

I turned to continue on my run and the man called to me again and I thought, “Aha, here is where it gets strange!” I turned back to the man and he said, “Remember, Jesus loves you,” and he turned and resumed his walk. I turned and continued my run and thought for a moment about those four words. I knew very little about Jesus but I thought it was odd that someone would tell me that Jesus loves me. I remember thinking that even if Jesus did love me how would that guy know. My conclusion as I ran on my way was that the man was a loon, one of those wacko Christians I’d heard about. However, something about that moment stuck with me and I couldn’t help but go back to it from time to time.

I don’t know if it was the nervousness that I felt as I approached, my disgust that I was judging this man by his appearance, or the curiosity I felt about those four words but something made this a memorable moment. Little did I know what would happen just a few years later, the seed planted in my mind on that road in Airway Heights would begin to sprout and the questions about Jesus would come flooding to my mind causing me to find out more about this Jesus and the love that crazy man said that he had for me.