1924 A FREE BUS RIDE

In the last week I have had some good conversations- talked to various people- from different backgrounds.

I have actually defended other groups [Catholics] from false accusations.

One friend said ‘the Catholics put tradition OVER the bible’.

I said- ‘actually-that’s not true’.

The other person- a fellow Protestant- insisted it was.

I told them that the church believes that Gods voice comes to us in 2 ways- scripture and tradition- but they see them both as means to communicate God’s word- they hold equal value- at least in official Catholic teaching it is this way.

I had another friend- a Muslim- ask me about the teaching from the bible that says ‘another prophet will come’.

Is this in the bible?

I told him there is a famous teaching you find in the bible that says ‘another’ prophet must first come.

But- he was under the impression that this verse was referring to Muhammad- I explained that the disciples actually asked Jesus about this.

They said ‘if you’re the one- that what about the prophecy that says Elijah must come first’.

Jesus said that there was indeed a prophecy that says before the Messiah comes- Elijah must first come.

Then Jesus said ‘John the Baptist was Elijah’ [John the Baptist came in the power and spirit of Elijah- and according to Jesus- he fulfilled the prophecy].

Jesus said that the prophecy about another prophet was fulfilled by him and John the Baptist- Jesus was the final and ultimate ‘prophet’ –Messiah- sent from God.

In all of these dialogues- I was friends with these people- I talk to these people as co-equals- I try real hard not to ‘preach at them’.

Sure- in a way- this type of conversation- is a type of preaching- but how long would it have taken my Muslim friend to have wandered into some church and have heard this?

Maybe never.

The point?

We- all of us- need to have friendships with people from other backgrounds.

We need to know- really- what other people believe.

My Protestant friend started from a wrong understanding of what Catholics believe.

If she wants to dialogue with Catholics about the differences between us- then she needs to know what the differences are.

The other day I was riding the old bus that drives down Bergenline ave.

Back in Texas when you buy a ticket with a transfer- it’s good all day.

So when I got on the bus I asked the guy if it was still good.

He looked at it real quick and said ‘yeah’.

After I sat down he told me ‘you know it did expire- but don’t worry about it’.

I told him I would pay for the ticket- but he said that’s okay.

So I talked to him from 48^th street to 91^st.

I told him I was visiting from Texas but grew up here in the area.

I told him I retired from the Fire Dept. after 25 years.

He has worked for the state for 30 years.

He asked me what it was like to retire- sort of like he is thinking about it too.

I told him that a lot of my friends put it off- they are scared of doing it.

Even though a job like mine might be considered dangerous- yet you get used to the routine- and some guys don’t know  what they will do if they retire.

He kept agreeing with me- like he is having the same thoughts.

He was nice guy- a Black guy.

Why mention Black?

I asked him where he lives- he said East Orange.

I haven’t been around here for so long- I did not know that it is a predominantly Black area [I found out later].

But when he said he lives there- he said ‘you know- I like it- I don’t want to go home and have a lot of drama- I get that on the job’.

I think he was saying he has to deal with people who are racist- people who look down on others because they are different.

And when he’s home- he doesn’t want the same thing.

Sure- I understood what he was saying.

When I sat down that day- I never met the man before- after about 40 blocks- we were talking like friends- plus- I got a free ride.

It’s worth treating others with respect- listening to their side of things.

Sometimes they have picked up ideas that you might be able to correct- to show them that they might have a wrong impression about Christianity.

Other times you will learn too.

All in all- if you start without prejudice- you can go a lot further.

www.corpuschristioutreachministries.blogspot.com

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