The Schoolteacher and the Angel

"But Jesus is the way. He knows His sheep and calls them by name." 

Not too long ago, a schoolteacher set off on a cross country road trip to visit the places she had only taught about. She travelled alone in a truck with a camper in tow. As she approached Sacramento on Interstate 5, the water pump in her truck failed and the truck and camper stalled in the middle of the freeway. Cars began to honk and people began to yell, but she was alone, tired, and scared and didn't know what to do. In spite of the traffic jam she caused no one offered to help.

She leaned up against the camper and prayed to God that He send an angel to help her, preferably one who was also a mechanic.

Only minutes later a large Harley Davidson pulled up, ridden by an even larger man. He had long hair, a black full beard and tattoos covering his arms. He jumped off the bike and, without a word to the teacher, started to work on the engine. After a few minutes he flagged down a passing truck, attached a chain to the disabled vehicle and pulled it off to the side of the road where he continued working.

The teacher was speechless. She didn't know what to say, especially when she saw the back of the biker's jacket which read “Hell's Angels, California.” As he finished the repairs and closed the hood, the school teacher finally got up the nerve to say “thank you so much,” and carry on a brief conversation with her savior. He could see her discomfort at his appearance and finally, looking her straight in the eye, said, “Don't judge a book by its cover. You may not know who you are talking to.” With that, he jumped back on his bike, and with a smile and a wave he disappeared back into traffic as suddenly as he had come.

How often do we judge people before we truly know them?

When we reduce people to categories rather than individuals, we sow the seeds for all hatred, prejudice, racism, rejection and persecution. This is what it means to objectify someone, to make them no longer a person, to make them into an object. And we are very good at creating categories that keep people at arms’ length and reduce them to a simple equation.

But Jesus is the way. He knows His sheep and calls them by name. We matter to Him personally, all people matter to Him, even those not of this fold. To overcome prejudice, and hatred, is to see as Jesus sees, to know as He knows, to call as He calls, and to forgive as He forgives.

To get past ignorance and assumptions about people we need to see them as people, with a name and a history. We must be more interested in people as individuals than in things that in the end do not matter at all. We must be more interested in the book than in its cover.

Christus Resurrexit
4th Sunday of Easter

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© Lawrence Klimecki

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Deacon Lawrence draws on ancient Christian tradition to create new contemporary art that seeks to connect the physical and the spiritual.. For more information on original art, prints and commissions, Please visit www.DeaconLawrence.org 

Lawrence Klimecki, MSA, is a deacon in the Diocese of Sacramento. He is a public speaker, writer, and artist, reflecting on the intersection of art and faith