Life is full of curtains.
There are stage curtains, window curtains, curtains that separate patients in hospitals, and we even have a curtain that hides our toilet. However, some the most interesting and necessary curtains are the ones we put up to hide the parts of our lives we don’t want anyone to see.
I got a glimpse behind one of those curtains today, and it was very humbling.
I teach eighth grade boys Sunday school at church. We were talking about our testimonies when a boy, we’ll call him Pepe, who recently made a profession of faith asked if he could give his testimony to the class.
I’ve known Pepe for several months, but to tell the truth, the only thing I know about him is the fact that he has a great smile. It’s one of those incredibly infectious smiles that can brighten any room.
Pepe started talking and only a few of the other boys in the room were really listening. Most were engaged in kind of half-whispering, off task conversations…but after about the first sentence, you could have heard a pin drop.
Pepe talked for about 20 minutes and I’ve never been around that group of guys when they weren’t talking until today.
Out of respect for Pepe and his unique situation, I’m not going to go into specifics. What I can say is that first my jaw hit the floor. Next, it took every ounce of strength I could muster to not become a blubbering idiot.
This is a church in a well-to-do area of Dallas. This is an area that I never would have expected anyone to have something like this behind his or her curtain. But maybe I just haven’t taken the time to look.
Like I said, life is full of curtains.
And I need to pay more attention.
2 comments:
Amazing post. A Sunday class where the teacher tunes in to the boys and doesn't have to be the talker for the entire time in class. I read between the lines that no one left that class the same as they came in.
G-town reader
Yeah, they're pretty fortunate to have you. And you them.
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