The Bungee Cord
3-29-19

Hello,

I was sitting at the bar yesterday afternoon on Fisherman’s Pier in Punta Gorda, Florida. I am on vacation with my wife, visiting my sister-in-law. They had abandoned me (actually it was the other way around) to the aisle of shops, and besides, the NCAA games were on. So, I found an outside bar (it was 75 and sunny!) to grab a glass of wine and pass some time. 

The bar was full, but I found an empty seat between a couple of guys, who I surmised had likewise been abandoned. So, I said to the guy on my left as I sat down, “So, have you been abandoned by women-folk, like I?”

“Well,” he said with a sort of male grunt in his voice, “Yea. I’m a compulsive buyer. If I see something I want, I buy it. So, I don’t go in those stores. My wife, my buddy and his wife are out shopping.”

“Oh,” I said, “probably good to just wait here. Besides, the games are on.”

“Don’t really care about the games.”

“You vacationing, or are you a resident?” I asked.

“Moved here a couple of years ago, bought a house….increased $200,000.00 since I bought it.”

“Wow,” I said. “Good for you.”

“Impulsive buyer, you know. I just try and keep things simple.”

“Oh,” I said, “me, I find that life can be pretty complicated sometimes.”

“Nope,” he said as he stuck out his hand, “Go to the middle east, you steal, and they cut this thing off. Those people who invented Narcan (opium overdose fighter) should be shot. All those crazy people….the government let them all loose. Lock um up!”

“Oh.” 

Having found out I was in the “preaching business” earlier in our conversation, he said, “Are you going to write a book?”

“A book?” I asked.

“Yeah. You’ve dealt with all these people. You must have a lot of stories to tell.”

“You’re right, I have dealt with a lot of people, but I am not going to write a book. People entrust their stories and lives to me, and I want to honor that trust. No book.”

“Oh. So how is the preaching business?”

“Well, I am just part time now. Been doing this for 36 years, and it has taken a toll on me. Just need to cut back,” I said. “I have found that life is complicated, and I just want to be someone who brings people hope.”

“Some people don’t deserve hope,” he snarled.

“Well, I think everyone does.”

“How about those drug addicts. They just get that Narcan, and then they go right back to the drugs. Should shoot those people who invented it.”

“Well,” I said, “I have found that when it is your son who is the opium user, people feel differently.”

“Oh,” he said.

We talked for a while, the conversation continually drifting the same way. Him…life is simple. Me….life is complex. My wife returned, thankfully emptihanded, and so I got out of my chair and said, “Nice to meet you.”

As I got up we shook hands and he said to me, “You know what. I think God planned on you to sit down next to me today.”

“Well,” I said back with a genuine smile on my face, “well, I don’t know about that. But it was great meeting you and talking to you today.”

I guess that one never knows when one has the chance to bring the hope of the love of God into people’s lives…..even while sitting at a bar in Punta Gorda, Florida.

Have a great week.
God’s grace and peace, (ggap)
Pastor Jerry Nuernberger