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Topic: Poor (10/25/04)
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TITLE: Poor Man's Heart By Erwin Robledo 10/25/04 |
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Pedro couldn’t read.
A soft tap came from a familiar face entering the house.
“Good evening, Tatay Pedro,” Riley smiled and shook hands with him, careful not to wake up the rest of the family.
“O, Pastor Rally, this is a surprise. And it’s so late. You usually visit in the afternoon.” Pedro called him Pastor Rally, although his name was Riley and wasn’t a pastor. Riley didn’t mind. He’d been called many names before, some much worse than that.
“This isn’t an ‘official’ visit. I just wanted to return this. I figured you’d need it in your shop sooner.” Riley took out a pair of pliers and gave it to Pedro. “Also, I’ve got a bag of peanuts over here that I haven’t finished. It’s yours. I wasn’t able to buy anything in the store, so I hope this is ok.”
“Aw, you didn’t have to,” Pedro smiled. God does answers prayers. Breakfast.
“’Tay, I was wondering if you could help me with the wiring in the house. I’ve been at it the whole weekend and I still couldn’t make the front porch lights light up.”
“Sure. When can we work on it?”
“This weekend. I’ll come by at eight.”
“Sure.”
Riley was about to wave goodbye, when a question suddenly flashed in his head, something he felt he had to ask right there and then. “’Tay, how come you’re so good at fixing things?”
“Hmm?”
“Just wondering. Remember the electric fan I had that needed fixing? I had it repaired in other shops and it breaks down after a month or two. Then I let you handle it and it’s running up to now. You must really be an expert.”
Pedro smiled. “You flatter me.. No, I just watched repairmen do it a long time ago. There was this guy who let me in his shop and taught me how to connect the wires and make the motors run again. I just follow his instructions and stuff gets fixed.”
“Wow.”
“Yeah, well, that’s…nevermind.”
Pedro sighed and looked away, apparently hurt by the thought. Riley saw that and decided to risk another question. “What?”
“Oh, nothing, it’s just…a long time ago I lived on the streets begging, stealing, working odd jobs to survive. Then this guy, the guy I told you about who taught me how to fix stuff? He spoke about Jesus just like you do. He told me to believe in God and He’ll take care of me, more than the way He cared for birds and other creatures.”
Riley nodded. That was true.
“Now I’m old. I can’t get another job other than this, and people don’t bring me stuff to fix ‘cause I fix them so well.” They both laughed, then Pedro looked at the curtain. “The money I make isn’t even enough to feed my family. Now don’t get me wrong, I don’t blame Him. It’s just that, I was hoping things would be different with Jesus helping out.”
“Isn’t Jesus helping?”
“I’m not saying He isn’t. What I meant was, I was hoping life would be easier. That’s not blasphemous, is it?”
Riley considered it. “No, I don’t think so, ‘tay. God understands what you mean. I’ll tell you what I think though. God took you out of the streets and taught you how to make an honest living. That’s progress, right?”
Pedro nodded.
“Now I’m helping you. The church is helping you. That’s progress, right?”
“I guess so.”
“See ‘tay? God’s helping out. We just don’t see it sometimes but that doesn’t mean He isn’t! And the best part is, God’s going to give you heaven. You’ll have all the comfort you never had here on earth, and more! There you can finally be rich. And all that He requires is that you believe all of it is true.”
“Really?”
“Really.”
“I’d like that, pastor. Thank you very much. You’ve made this old man happy.”
Riley smiled.