An Amazing Experience

So, I frequently take the kids I babysit to the local rec center, which has a Ping-Pong table and air hockey and foosball. They seem to love it, and it's an air conditioned place to get out a little energy in the summer. There's usually an older African-American man hanging out there playing pool, and he's always polite but dressed really crummy. I assumed he was unemployed because he's hanging out there during the day and always wearing the same stained shirt. You have probably guessed already that I was totally wrong!

Most days, this gentleman is not especially coherent. He mumbles a lot to himself, and when he speaks to us, I'm never sure how he expects me to respond. Today there was no one else at the rec center, so I guess he felt more comfortable being friendly, and he started asking the kids questions about school. They really enjoyed how impressed he was by their math skills! : ) He then asked me what high school I went to (sigh) and was doubtful when I said that I had already graduated college. When I said that I majored in World Literatures, he asked if I had read The Brothers Karamazov by Dostoyevsky, and I expressed surprise that he knew that name off the top of his head.

He then proceeds to recommend all these books that have long been on my to-read list, by authors like Doris Lessing and other Nobel Prize winners. I couldn't believe that he had the names all readily accessible in his memory like that!

He asks me if I'd like to hear a story. I say, sure. He says, "You choose - a story about white people, a story about black people, or a story about what it means to be a human being." Of course, I choose the last option, but I end up hearing all three eventually. And here they are, as close to the way he told them as I can recall:


"What It Means to Be a Human Being"

The angels in Heaven were arguing about Man. They said, "How can God hold Man in such high esteem? We live here in Heaven, while they live on Earth. They need to eat, and we do not. They need to sleep, and we do not. They live in darkness, while we live in the perfect light of our eternal God. So why does God seem to love them more?"

So God came to the angels and said, "If you don't understand why I love Man, then go down to the Earth and see for yourself." One angel volunteered and was sent down as a human. He met a woman and they began to talk about all the important things in the world. They became friends. They became lovers. They had children. The angel experienced all the ups and downs of life. He experienced grief, and love, and joy, and passion. And he died.

When he returned to Heaven the other angels asked him to tell them all about his time on Earth. While he was describing the intense emotions and difficulties of being a human, God returned to the angels and said, "You have seen that Man is consumed with joy, grief, love, hunger, and all the other difficulties of being human. Yet he still finds time for me. And you wonder why I love Man?"




"A Story About White People"

In the ancient city of Carthage, the Romans came to declare war. The people of Carthage lost battle after battle, and finally the turned to the hero Regulus, and told him to go to Rome and negotiate peace. They said, "If you are successful, live out your life in Rome with your wife and children. But if you are unsuccessful, we want you to return here to Carthage, and we will kill you and torture you."

So Regulus traveled with his family to Rome. He walked through the streets and was greeted by the Roman men and women, who never mentioned his defeat and did not look down on him. Regulus visited the Roman emperor and spoke with him about granting peace to Carthage. The emperor denied his request, so Regulus spent a week with his family, touring Rome and making friends everywhere he went. After the week was up, Regulus returned to the Roman emperor to make one last attempt at negotiations. Though the emperor admired Regulus, he could not declare peace with Carthage. So Regulus returned home.

The leaders of Carthage saw him and knew that he had failed. They said, "We are glad to see what your word means, Regulus. And now we will show you what our word means." They tortured him. They made him endure excruciating pain. They killed him.

When the people of Rome heard that Regulus had died, they mourned for the injustice. The women shaved their heads and joined the men in battle. They invaded Carthage and fought the last battle, and the city of Carthage fell. When the dust had settled, they tried to think of a way to honor their admired Regulus. Night fell and they looked up at the stars. The big dipper shone brightly, its handle pointing to the North Star, Polaris. In the opposite direction was the constellation of a lion - Leo. A bright star at its center was thus named Regulus, the heart of a lion.



"A Story About Black People"

Long ago, before Daoud [David] was on the throne, before Isa [Moses] parted the Red Sea, before any written history that we know, a man left his village in Africa. For seven days he walked east, when he came upon a mangy dog. The dog was panting with thirst from the heat of the desert, and his rib cage stuck out painfully. His fur was coming away in patches. The man felt sorry for him, so for the next twenty-one days they walked together, sharing what little food and water they found.

They came upon a stranger, who asked where they were headed. "I am a traveler," said the man. "In what direction are you traveling?" asked the stranger. The man replied, "To the East."

The stranger revealed himself to be an angel and said, "You are no longer traveling East. You have crossed into another realm. Your path will now lead to either Heaven or Hell. All you have to do to get to Heaven is kill that dog."

The man was horrified. "This dog is my friend. We have traveled together for weeks. Nothing is worth the price of a friendship. I don't kill friends!"

The angel smiled. "You have passed the test. Now come to Heaven."

A set of golden gates opened onto the most beautiful world the man has ever seen. Bright white light and a lovely feeling of peace embraced the man. He asked the angel, "Where is my grandmother? Where are the people of my village who have passed before me?"

The angel said sadly, "They didn't make it. They went to the other place."

The man thought for a moment, then declared "Take me to the other place. I belong with the people of my village and my family. If they are not here, then I am in the wrong place."

So the angel took him down to Hell, but stopped short of the gates. "This is a path you must take alone." The man steeled himself and entered the hellfire, the unbearable heat, the searing pain. But for a moment, the cool breath of Heaven that still clung to his skin brought relief to all the residents of Hell.





Okay, I'm not going to pretend that I completely understand the stories, but the point is this man told them completely extemporaneously, with even more detail than I was able to capture. I asked what he did for a living, thinking maybe he was just a professor who liked to be super-casual in his downtime. He replied that he is a construction worker.

And so the moral is, don't judge a book by its cover! : )