A man traveling with two other people waited
alone in the restaurant while they went to the bathroom. He stood with his hand
in his pockets behind the farthest band of the extendable tape and said, ask me
any question you’ve always wanted to know the answer to. He seemed to be
addressing both me and [Joe], who were both engaged in cleaning—me, trays; he,
odd items and surfaces. I asked him to tell me how many minutes it would be
before they would order. He kept trying to ask the question. He then said
something like, what is your view/have you heard of the God question? I heard
that as, “The God Question,” and
endeavored to inject jocularity as I sometimes do in situations where people
are being awkwardly confrontational, in order to distract them off their track,
so I said that I thought he was talking about a book. He made some unclear
statements to the tune of it being an important subject, this could be your
only opportunity, are you sure that/what’s your choice?, both before and after
I said that I wasn’t authorized to talk about subjects that could potentially
offend people while in my capacity as an employee. He said that he was
impossible to offend. He sorta just waited around while I was mostly silent
thereafter, Joe looked at me confusedly, and the man made a few weak attempts
at speaking, as I just mentioned. When [the manager] came to swap out my drawer and
put Joe on, he left with the people who were with him. I think I know what he
was doing. He seemed to be trying to start a witnessing encounter. He had what
he thought was a decent “hook,” and he felt comfortable since the dining room
was empty and he in all likelihood was simply passing through, so he felt
bolder—not yet quite in his element, however, since his body language, distance
from his addressees and fumbling obscurity were an obstacle to getting to the
point. His engagement hinged on getting people to be both curious and ask and
answer questions with him, but he seemed to not have counted on what he would
do if that didn’t happen, or people didn’t engage. He didn’t have a plan B, and
he left without leaving a clear Gospel presentation. Suppose he is saved—he
just needs to refine his methods and aspire to be less mysterious and more
direct with his introduction—and be prepared to make a point even when his
hearers are unwilling to talk back. People at work or in a line are a great
captive audience; he should expect to talk without them talking at all. Suppose
he isn’t saved—it’s fantastic that he left discouraged and I hope he comes to
the Truth. Personally, I’m suspicious that the former is true.
~ Rak Chazak
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