Running is fun. Exploring places fun. Exploring places while running is especially fun. So on my morning run I decided to venture beyond the gates of my new campus and explore the surrounding area instead of running on campus as I had been doing in days past. The first half-mile was delightfully uneventful as I steadily jogged around the campus border smiling at dozens of curious onlookers. I suppose a fair-skinned lad running around the streets of Asia in the early morning may be a bit out of place.
And then I turned the corner.
The street-sides were jam-packed with empty parked trucks, but I could hear noise in the distance. I wondered why dozens of empty trucks were parked along the street, but I soon found out as I continued to jog and the distant noise surged into a sea of sound as people chattered aloud to buy and sell every kind of produce imaginable. But as the sound grew so did the number of people—so much that I had to run with wisdom. It was actually quite exciting weaving through the mass of chattering humanity.
And then I stopped.
I had to stop because there were so many bodies. The mass of humanity became too thick. I became frustrated with the slow-moving throng, chattering aloud in hopes of a good bargain and interrupting my run, causing my time to be higher than normal.
And then I saw him.
An elderly gentleman had dismounted his old bicycle and was slowly pushing it through the crowd. His face, full of wrinkles and empty of joy, met mine. He walked on. I thought about him. About his past. About his present. About his future. About his soul.
And then I saw them.
The thousands of souls all around me who were desperately seeking physical produce but largely ignorant of lasting fruit and living Water. They were everywhere, eternal souls slowly walking to the end of the street; and to the end of their lives.
And then I stopped.
I had to stop because there were so many souls. The mass of souls became too real. I became frustrated with my dull heart, so occupied with a running time that it neglected to see that which is timeless. I failed to see their souls.
And then I rejoiced.
My Father answered my request and gave me a clearer vision of reality. While talking to Him minutes before the run I asked Him to give me a deeper burden for the people here. His loving rebuke helped to open my eyes to reality and caused me to rejoice in His gift of grace. In my weakness, He is strong.
May we who are His be burdened for the countless throng of hungry souls and seek to reflect His light and show His love so that He may be All, and in all.
“You don’t have a soul. You are a soul. You have a body.” – C.S. Lewis
* This post is contributed by Buddy, pen-name of one of our American missionaries in China.
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