A Man Called Chuck

If there is proof that goodness surrounds  us daily, I found it just the other day.  My husband and I were looking at a property.  We had stopped by to see what kind of condition it was in.  It was a small duplex, and in the top unit lived a man called Chuck.  Chuck is one of the current renters. He invited us into his home so that we could meet him and have a look around.  I have to admit, when I first met Chuck I found myself caught up in judgments.  He is an elderly man with what looks to be many health problems.  It is hard for him to see, because his eyes are surrounded by large puffs of drooping skin. He was in a bathrobe, and his swollen and sore feet looked so painful to me.  The house was well kept, but it had that particular musty smell about it when one walks into an old person’s home.

 

My immediate thoughts were ones of judgement and negativity.  As Chuck kindly took us on a tour of his home, he plodded from room to room showing us his life and telling us all about how he loves his home.  One of the first things I recall him saying was that he loved to write and play music.  He’s had a hard time of it recently because of his health problems, but he promptly told us that he knew that Jesus would restore him, and he would be able to play his music again. Hearing this man, amidst all his hardships, blatantly claim that he knew Jesus would heal him…it stirred something in me. He said this with no hesitation, no fear of judgment, no worry that he would offend anyone by claiming he believed Jesus would heal him. He spoke with pure conviction of his beliefs, without any hint of irony in his voice.  What he said changed me, and I began to look at him in a new light. He took us through the rooms of the house.  In one bedroom I saw pictures on a night stand.  One was a picture of his family. The other was a picture of a young handsome man in a uniform.  He told us the next room was his own personal closet, because he “owned a lot of suits.”  Oh boy, did he ever. There were colorful suits, neutral suits, and striped suits all accompanied with matching shirts, and all of them were neatly pressed and placed carefully on the hangers in his closet.

On the way out, I had fallen a little behind the rest of the party when Chuck stopped me.  I wanted to catch up with my husband and the others. However, Chuck had different plans. He wanted to meet my baby boy.  Chuck loves children. He told me that my son was a gift from God, lent to me to make me happy in my life.  While I totally agree with him, I still wanted to catch up with the others. I started inching away from the porch, trying to be polite at the same time.  Well, he wasn’t dumb.  He stopped me and said, “You come back here. Come sit on my porch.”  So I gave in. “Why the heck not?” I thought to myself.

I climbed back up the stairs and sat on the chair next to him, and I am so glad I did.  I learned that the handsome man from the photograph was actually the man sitting beside me, now wearing an old bathrobe instead of a crisp uniform.  He had served in the United States Air Force.  He lived all over the world, including almost every country in Europe.  He’d had a family, a wife and children.  He told me about the time when his mother was sick, and he came back home to take care of her, which is how he had ended up in his current home. 

He also loves the outdoors.  He has scaled the Grand Canyon and travelled all through Zion National Park.  He told me a particularly interesting story about when he visited Craters of the Moon in Idaho.  He had his acoustic guitar with him, and he sat in his campsite and began to play.  He then said that a bobcat came out of the brush.

“He let me know right away that he wasn’t dangerous.”  And then he continued, “That bobcat sat right down and listened to me play my guitar.” 

There is obviously no way that I can prove this story to be true.  But I have no reason to disbelieve my new found friend.  If he can charm me, I certainly believe he can charm a bobcat with his guitar.

 

This man had nothing but good things to say about everyone and everything around him, despite his poor health.  He helped me realize that his unpolished exterior was not a reflection of who he was.  He was not the old man I saw before me.  He was the young, charismatic man from the photo in his bedroom.  He loves every day that he is alive.  Moreover, he showed me something priceless.  He showed me how to live with conviction, love and faith every day, even when your circumstances seem dire.  It was a breath of fresh air getting to know him.  My advice for the day: if you are looking for something more in your life, get off your phone, stop talking about yourself and sit down with someone and listen to what they have to say. You will inevitably learn something.