Earlier this evening me and a few of my friends went to see the new X-men movie, X-men origins. When we got to the theater, the ticket agent said that there were only a few scattered seats left at the 7:15 showing. So we decided to buy tickets for the next showing, which was at 8:15. With an hour to kill, we headed over to BJ's to pass the time. After checking out the crystal clear HDTV's and eating some churros, we walked over to try and get some free food samples. (For 6 teenage guys, the word "free" pretty much means "it's party time")
As I was walking down the candy isle in BJ's, I noticed an old man looking at something on one of the shelves. He stuck me as a guy who is kinda of "out there". He was tall and skinny and had a thick gray beard and glasses. He looked Irish or Scottish. Then, I happened to look down at his feet and noticed that this guy had on roller skates. I was like "sweet, this dude is the man!" I mean ROLLER SKATES IN BJ'S!!??! He instantly became my hero, and i decided that I wanted to talk to him. As I went over, he started skating away. He made a sharp turn and landed in the clothing isle. So i tried to non-chalantly make my way over and eventually end up standing next to him looking at some clothes. But, he was a quick old fellow and he skated away. I followed him around the corner, but when i got there, he had vanished. Surprised, I began to walk quickly around the store, looking down each isle, but he was no where to be found.
My mind quickly spinning as to where he was, i took another lap around the store. Nothing. He had simply vanished.Then, I thought of the verse in Hebrews where the author states "Do not forget to entertain strangers, for by so doing some people have entertained angels without knowing it." Hebrews 13:2
Now i have read that verse a few times, and honestly, I didn't really believe it. I mean angles walking around our planet in the appearance of humans? Come on! But as I began to think more, I remembered a few stories I had heard of friends who believed they encountered an angel, but in the appearance of a human.
It is interesting that the verse states "by doing". It made me wonder if the only reason I didn't believe in angels breaking through the spiritual realm and physically coming to earth was that I had never set out to entertain strangers. So I asked God, "is this guy for real"
So, as we were leaving BJ's, i see a man sitting by himself, barefoot, eating a foot long hot dog. It was none other then the man with the roller blades. He had just taken them off. I told my friends that I wanted to talk to him, so I went over and said. "Hey man, My name is Josh. I think that your roller blades are really cool. Do you mind if I take a picture of them?" He looks up at me with a grin and says. "So you want me to pose or somethin?" I laughed pretty hard. "Yeah sure, whatever you want" I replied. "So if you take my picture, is there anyway you could send it to me via email?". "No sorry, i dont have all those crazy functions on my phone like some people do." "Aww thats to bad" he replied. "well... I dont have a computer anyway."
The man's name was Paul. He didn't glow, or have a halo, but he did like to skate in between towns, specifically over the beverly/salem bride. He said he enjoyed "picking up quite a lot of speed" down the bridge. He also said that he would skate up to 10 miles a day. That blew me away.
Angel or Human, Paul taught me a lesson this evening. Never grow old. Old in spirit that is.
So, for whoever is reading this, when you are 65, don't hesitate to do something that you might now feel is a little absurd. Whether that be doing handstands down the street, wearing a spedo to the beach, or rollerskating in BJ's...never lose the kid inside of you. I hope when I am 65, i will still have a young soul and enjoy life to the point of not caring about what others think... and roller skating in BJ's is first on my list. (Except it will probably be hoverboarding by the time I am 65)
Thanks Paul
-JN
