When I was in Oxford spring 2009 semester, I took Christianity in Culture. one of our assigments was that we had to pick a character from the bible who we felt we could relate to in terms of their spirtual story/journey and write their story as our own. we could stay in their time period or modernize the story. I chose to do the Ethiopian in Acts 8:26-39. I had just been baptized a few months earlier and I could relate to a baptizim on the spot almost with little preparation time. dont get me wrong: i thought about it but i didnt spend hours and hours studying, thinking about it. I just decided I wanted to follow Jesus and I loved Him, why not?it worked our great from a creative writing point of view because there is not a lot of detail in this story; it is very short and open, so that allowed me to be really creative in terms of filling in the details to correspond with my spitritual autobiography. this was a really good assighment and I had fun writing this. it felt more like a creative writing assighment than an academic paper,which was perfect for me.
“Good morning miss. Is your carriage in service?”
I look up from my notes from last week’s student council meeting; I am student council treasurer. I see a girl who looks to be my age, roughly 16, standing right beside my horse drawn carriage. She was wearing a backpack that looked to be heavy and was wearing a blue vest over a white polo shirt with a blue mini skirt. I have never in my life seen anyone dressed like that and oddly enough, I like it. Judging from the looks I see on people’s faces as they notice her I am in the minority.
“Yes, it is. The cost is $20 per hour and we have a no smoking policy while on board.”
“Sounds good to me.” She said with a smile.
She hopped on and we were on our way. She turned to be a very friendly person and she loved to talk. She insisted on setting next to me and she talked the entire time. Her name was Mary but her friends called her “presentation Mary” because she loved to give presentations and was good at it as well.
“My family is from France. Well, my grandmother came over from France and she came to the states before she had my mom. I go to France every couple of years since one of my uncles still lives there.”
I had never been to France, so I jumped on this topic. I asked her what her favorite thing to do in France was and her answer surprised me. She said her favorite thing to do was go to Sunday service at Notre Dame Cathedral. I would expect someone to say their favorite thing was to go to Notre Dame to look around not attend service.
“Why is this your favorite thing to do?”
“Because it is my favorite church to worship God in. it has different chapels all along the inside so during service I go into one and just…have a talk with Jesus.”
“Talk to Jesus? We can’t talk to Jesus…he’s in heaven.”
“Yes, he is in heaven. But we can talk to him. All you have to do is go to him and say exactly what is in your heart, your mind, and he listens and he talks back. It’s just a matter of whether or not you want to listen.”
“That is very poetic and a nice picture, but why would Jesus want to talk to someone like me?”
“Because he loves you. He always has and always will.”
“Why does He love me? I am far from perfect…there is so much wrong with me!”
By this point I had forgotten that I was on the clock and she was my customer; Mary has become my friend. We talked for her entire carriage ride that afternoon, which was about 2 hours. She started coming every week at around the same time, sometimes 2 times a week. Each time we would talk about Jesus. She called Him her “friend Jesus.” She would tell me all about how much Jesus loved me (enough to die for me), how He’s the best friend I will ever have, that He’ll never ever let me down…this went on for 4 years, and during those four years, Jesus became my friend too. You could say she introduced me to Jesus.
May 25, 2007
Dear: Diary,
Today I found out that my route at work has been changed. I will be working the queens into Manhattan route instead of the central park route. It is definitely a more challenging route since I will be in traffic now. Another positive is that I will be getting paid more so I can save more money .I also get to keep Ethiopian. He is such a good horse and by now we’re a team. I am determined to be able to buy a cherry red wrangler jeep with zippered sides. There is a down side: I won’t be seeing Mary anymore. I am sad about that. She taught me so much in the four years I have known her, even though we never socialized outside of her weekly carriage ride. If it weren’t for her, I never would have known Jesus. I wonder what this new route holds in store for me.
“Hey there, ma’am. How are you doing this fine morning?” a cheerful voice, too cheerful for 8am on a Saturday morning, said. Why anyone was so happy this early in the morning was beyond me. Of course, he probably chose to get this early. If I wasn’t on the clock I would tell him to not call me ma’am; I am not that old.
“I am doing fine, how are you?”
“Happy to be alive. How much is a ride?”
“$30 per hour.”
“Awesome. Could I have a ride?”
“Of course. Hop on.”
“Sweet. What’s your name?” he asked with a bright smile full of excitement.
“My name is Candace.”
“Candace. That’s a pretty name. Where do you go to church?”
“I don’t go to church.”
“Why not?”
“Because I don’t feel I need to be in a building to worship God.”
“Well, that is true but there’s more to church than a building…”
This guy that I hardly knew, that was so happy from this joy that seemed to come from the inside, started talking to me about what a church is and surprising enough, it was interesting. He explained things in such a way that it made me realize that I believed them too. Maybe it was that I was ready to hear it; maybe it was simply seeing how much joy his faith brought him.
November 23, 2008
Dear: Diary,
Today I was baptized. It was the most random decision I have ever made. It just came into my head and I realized it was the right thing to do. I was talking to this guy named James Phillip (he had come to my carriage and we got to talking about God and the bible and Jesus…). I don’t know where the idea came from. It’s not like I was thinking about it before or anything. It was literly a 2 minute decision but I know that it was the right thing to do.
I feel like a new person, diary. Something has been changed inside me, and I cannot wait to live a life of God and that shows the change.
