Moments

Life is essentially a compilation of moments that define us and give us a sense of who we are. We have good and bad moments; joyful ones; memorable ones; and key instances that engrave us forever.

On my flight back from Dubai I sat next to a middle aged couple from Texas. Her name was Kat and his was Abdul. They were of African-American descent and you could hear that thick southern accent. I’m sure my Torontonian slang made an appearance on their end.

When I took my seat I noticed a cane folded on my chair and asked them if it was theirs, to which they responded with an emphatic, “Yes.” I looked at Abdul and connected the dots. He was blind, both eyes were glass and hidden behind his shades. After a pleasant 13 hour flight my friend Abdul asked me if I lived in Toronto and I told him I did. He asked the next obvious question that you ask any person you meet from Toronto, “Do you know Drake?” I chuckled and actually revealed to him that I went to the same high school as Drake back in the days. He was surprised. I was just glad it was Drake, and not the Biebs, that he inquired about. (Canada, we’ve come a long way in Americans’ minds where our only association was once the beaver). I told him that I was a seminary student and was interested in religious studies, especially Islam. I could sense immediately he had something to say; and boy did he ever.

He told me that when he was just 23 years old some hooligans took him and shot him twice in the head. One bullet blinded both his eyes because they shot the side of his face and the bullet pierced through his eyeballs. The second bullet thankfully shaded him and only left a scar. They then stabbed his back seven times with a screwdriver and left him for dead. They took his body to a forest to leave him but they realized Abdul was alive. At this moment, they took his body and buried him alive 6 feet underground. Abdul could hear their laughter. They left and he made a decision that he wasn’t going to die that night. He clawed and willed his way out of the ground. At this point in the narrative, my jaw dropped and I just listened. Abdul then took his shades off and showed me glass eyes. Even touched them, as if I needed confirmation. Then he shared what I feared. You see, he was wearing a noticeable pendant of the name of “Allah” and judging by his trip to Dubai, I could sense he had more reasons to visit the Middle East than simply to enjoy the sights.

Abdul told me that he once believed Jesus was God and that God had his back. But this moment in the forest helped him realize that Allah gave him the strength to pull himself out of the ground. And he also realized in this moment that Jesus was not God. He asked me, “Max, why did Jesus pray to God if he is God? Why did he say that only the Father is good? And how could God be beaten, mocked and killed?”

Now for my moment, I looked at him and said the only words that came to me, “I want to pray for you.” He remained silent. Oh I how I wanted so desperately to open my mouth and tell him everything I know. But I knew that his mind and heart were closed. My flesh was struggling with my heart. The Spirit made a move. I told him that my responses to his questions will not satisfy him but I promised him I would pray for him. He blessed me, his wife blessed me. Our plane landed and we got off.

Moments are interesting because the most memorable ones are the ones I don’t expect coming. I walked off that plane wondering what just happened. Why it happened. Abdul, I’m praying for you. You were blinded by a bullet but a bigger force has blinded you from the truth. God bless brother.