A STRANGE YOUNG MAN
I was driving back
to Girardville from the St. Catherine Medical Center this past
Tuesday and, while driving east on Centre Street in Ashland,
I stopped for a red light. As I was waiting for the light to
change, a young man crossed the street in front of me. Something
about him prompted me to look at him. Let me tell you what it
was “about him” that drew my attention.
First of all, I must say that I don’t recall ever having
seen him before. I don’t have the foggiest idea who he is
or what he does or where he lives. I’m guessing he is a
resident of Ashland, but I’m not sure.
He was (so it seemed to me) about 19 or 20 years of age. He was
tall, had dark hair and was wearing eyeglasses. He was dressed
appropriately for the hot weather: khaki shorts and a dark tee
shirt.
So far, so good. Nothing unusual about this, right? But wait
a minute! I’m coming to the unusual part; I might say the
“strange” part of my brief narrative!
This young man’s hair was neatly and conservatively combed.
It appears that he is not a stranger to his barber.
He had no visible tattoos. Because his arms and legs (at least
from the knees on down) were visible, I think it is safe to say
he had no tattoos at all — certainly no tattoos on his face
or neck. He had no visible piercings, no baubles dangling from
his ears or lips.
He walked across the street with a purposeful stride. It seemed
that he knew where he was going and was intent on getting there,
wherever it was he was going.
There was no satanic or semi-satanic message on his tee shirt,
nor was there any obscene or semi-obscene innuendo. In fact,
there was no message at all, nor innuendo on his tee shirt! It
was just a tee shirt, that’s all, nothing more, nothing
less — a garment to cover one’s upper torso. Apparently,
the young man sees himself as a person, not an advertising medium.
I experienced an impulse (which I did not act upon) to roll down
the window of my car and shout out to him, “Young man, may
I speak with you a minute? Have you ever thought of becoming
a priest?” You see, Bishop Barres encourages us priests
to keep our antennae up for possible vocations to the priesthood.
However, since I did not know the young man and, therefore, did
not know his religious affiliation, I thought it might be ill-advised
and inappropriate for me, all things considered, to pose a question
to him about a possible vocation to the priesthood. There is
something to be said for timing!
However, if I had done so, and if he had responded by saying,
“No, I am quite certain that I don’t have a vocation
to the priesthood”, I might then have said to him, “Well,
young man, do you think you might like to marry my daughter?”
But, of course, I don’t have a daughter, so that would not
have been appropriate either. However, if I were a married man
with a marriageable daughter (more likely a granddaughter, considering
my advanced age), I would have given him her name, telephone
number and email address and encouraged him to establish contact
with her. I might even have offered him a fifty-dollar bill to
finance their first date. Fifty not enough? Let’s make it
a hundred! |
Saturday, 17 July
DO YOU RECOGNIZE THIS BISHOP?