Unknown Mechanic in Chapin, S. C.

Today,  3 March 2002, my friend and Sunday School teacher, Tommy Gowan, told our Sunday School class this true story:

Tommy spent 7 years with me in a small men's group at our church, and he has co-taught our Sunday School class at least since 1996. A former high school football coach, he is no wimp. But we Jesus followers tend to lack the courage and "know how" required to step into an uncomfortable situation.

Tommy, a business man much on the road in Florida, Georgia, and North & South Carolina,  was on the way home (last week) northward up I-85 to I-26 eastbound from an Atlanta trip when he thought of food. He swung off I-26 at the Chapin exit to pick up a bunch of wings at one of his favorite joints run by the nephew of the man who years ago owned Herb's Grill on Broad River Road, Columbia, S. C. Tommy pulled up a stool and placed his order. To his left he noticed a really big man dressed like an off-duty automobile mechanic. Strangely, the normally gregarious Tommy didn't feel the urge to strike up some small talk.

He suddenly became aware of the loud voice of a women...one of a small group of girls...at a table to his right. She was cursing and negative about someone...or some situation...away from the diner and obviously quite upset and angry. In a few minutes, one of her table-mates came over to place an order at the counter between Tommy & the big man. To his startled surprise, Tommy heard the man turn and whisper a little loudly to the woman, "Hey, that lady needs some help!" She turns & looks at him [that kind of "are you talking to me?" look]. He says, "Your friend sounds like she really needs some help!" The next thing Tommy knows, he sees that big guy get up and go with the girl over to the table. He doesn't hear exactly what is said initially. But, in a minute, the mechanic kneels down on the diner floor by the table and starts praying a spontaneous, unrehearsed-type of heart-felt prayer for the angry woman. In short order, her anger turns into a flood of tears. As Tommy is paying & leaving, he hears the mechanic inviting her to his church and offering to be her friend at church.

Is your favorite athlete a hero? Or is this mechanic a hero? Like me, do you wish that you had both the guts and confidence to just get involved and show people our Jesus? I wish that I knew who the big man is...I'd like to meet and shake the hand of a real hero...a saintly ambassador for Jesus Christ!!

(posted 3 March 2002)