the train ride

I had a great blog entry that got deleted. So im going to try to remember, and write it again.

I took a 30+ hour train ride across the country. It was wonderful. Below my bed there was a Punjabi Sikh man. I could tell he was a Sikh because of the meticulous way he wrapped his turban so as to accentuate the prominent bulge of hair that had never been cut. He wore a solid metal silver bracelet to maintain balance and harmony. His graying beard was very long but tied up under his chin in the traditional Sikh way. He shared that he also carried the religious knife, and wore the religious underwear. In reference to said underwear he explained, “I wear the brief kind, not the French kind so if I take pant off now- no problem.” Thankfully he didn’t elaborate.

He was a very kind man, always making sure I was safe and as comfortable as possible. He was very moral, as most Sikhs are, and extraordinarily sincere in his pursuits. The snapshot of his life that I saw on the train was easily more moral than the average Christian’s. At one point I looked at him and was stunned by the fact that same “kind” man would one day look in the face of God in complete horror as he is told that he had never been known by God. So I asked the father for an opportunity to share

About halfway through our journey as I began to mix my rice and curry by hand he said to me “you have a very good opportunity!” I paused and asked him what he was referring to and he explained that he was going to spend the next hour giving me a class on Sikhism. I realized this was an answer to my previous prayer and indulged him. He began like this “6 day creation is bullsh*t. The bible is bullsh*t.” This led into an hour log tirade of head bobbing and hardly intelligible logic.

He continued at breakneck speed for the entirety of the conversation. I noticed he was slightly dehydrated because as he spoke small beads of foamy spit would form on his lower lip until large enough to be launched by the next aspirated syllable. From time to time I would interject loaded questions (i.e. in reference to the statement “everything must be proved scientifically” I asked “can you prove history, math, or even that statement scientifically”) but it was clear he was only waiting for his next moment to begin talking, as his responses rarely had any relevance to my questions.

Eventually I remembered his unhindered candor at the offset of our conversation and thought I would return the favor. So mimicking his boldness and illogical and non-linear progression of thought I gave the good news. I just said it. I didn’t lead into it. I didn’t butter him up for it- I just said it. From my perspective it couldn’t have been more ineffective, however that’s not my role.

The entire conversation reminded me of Psalm 114 and Christ’ allusion to in when he said “they have ears that do not hear, and eyes that do not see.” That Punjabi man had become as lifeless as the idol he worshipped, so much that the words of life (john 6) were anything but intelligible to him. I’m going to do the best dang job that I can- but the Lord changes hearts.