One of the things that I enjoy about traveling for the Center for Creative Ministry is the wide variety of people that I meet. It is interesting to be involved, if even for a brief time, in the spiritual lives of so many people.

One such involvement happened just this last March. I was directing a Confirmation retreat for a parish. As a background, in March of this year I was recovering from a major accident and was not in my best “retreat directing” frame of mind.

We had just finished a long Saturday session on images of Jesus. In this session, we use art prints of Jesus and several theatrical presentations as well. Towards the middle of the afternoon break, when I was in my lowest energy and motivation point, one young teen stopped me with the phrase, “Can I talk to you a minute?” I readily agreed. Let’s call him Gary.

Gary said to me, “I don’t know what’s going on but that whole thing we did about Jesus really made me think. I feel, I don’t know, like different or something- like I am really changed. This is weird. I never thought about Jesus like this before.”

I said, “Well, it sounds like something is surprising you. Do you like the feeling?”

“Yes,” Gary said, “it is like God just reached into me or something.”

Look out, theologians. Some sixteen year old boy has got this religion stuff down. That was probably the best definition of Grace I have heard in a long time: “like God reached into me or something.” At that moment, when Gary was sharing with me his encounter of Grace, telling me of his moments of conversion when Jesus was suddenly knocking on the door of his soul, this young man was converting me. And I thought I was the speaker.

Here he was, unknowingly, calling me to conversion. God was reminding me, in one of my low-energy, “What am I doing here?” moments that GOD was still in charge of dispensing Grace- regardless of how I, the instrument, felt.

Thanks, Gary, thanks for sharing with me, some unknown-to-you speaker you have never met before in your young life, your moment of Grace and conversion. I, some stranger that you might not ever see again, have been converted yet afresh, by God’s grace, moving in both of our lives.