It’s Not About the Burger

A few days ago a dear friend at work shared with me a touching incident from her day. She wanted to tell me because it had a mysterious, spiritual component to it and she knew I would understand. As I listened, I recognized it immediately as a Divine Appointment.

My friend drove past a woman parked in a wheel chair on the street corner and had a strong prompting to help her. She decided that if the woman was still there on her way back she would buy her some food. When my friend drove back by a man was standing next to the woman. My friend drove to a nearby hamburger stand and returned with food and water for the two. They were humbly grateful, genuinely thankful. My friend was deeply touched and unable to stop the tears as she drove away, still unsure of why she had received such an insistent nudge to act.

I told her that her tender heart had been touched so because she had experienced a holy moment, designed to impact both her and the woman she felt she needed to help. Each of us has a spirit piece, placed there by our Creator God whom the Bible describes as Truth and Love in Spirit. Our spirit, as unique to each of us as our DNA, is hard wired to connect with Him. When He reaches out to that spirit piece it is hard to resist.

You see, your physical body isn’t the real you. Life isn’t about your body, or having a good hair day, or even where you work or live, or what you own. Those can be wonderful pieces of life, but the spirit piece is the real you – it’s what makes you you. It’s what compelled my friend go out of her way and with her own money purchase food for strangers, and kindly deliver it to them. It’s what caused the tear to spill over her eyelid as she recounted the story.

One day our eyes will close for the last time. We will draw our last breath and our bodies will be laid to rest in a sacred burial ground or the remnants of donated organs will be burned to ash and scattered. But our spirit will remain! And where it resides depends on whether we connect with The Holy Spirit before that last breath.

As a Christ follower, I’m on my way to that beautiful eternal home – a very real place, described in detail in scripture. This earthly life is just a leg of the journey. I pray that each of you will come to know and love Jesus, and make that ultimate Spirit connection so you can share Heaven with me forever. Especially my dear friend with the tender heart and the God-given eye for beauty.

God knows where you are on your journey and wants you to know where He is. He wants to connect with you – it’s why He wrote your DNA and knit you together in your mother’s womb! (Ps. 139) He is always as close as a prayer, and even if prayer is foreign to you or a challenge, know that He is near you, with you, beside you, seeking a relationship with you. God walks in the scriptures, seeking you. (St. Ambrose) Yes, you.

Don’t resist that spiritual nudge, that tug on your spirit-heart. Embrace it, seek it, and discover real, lasting meaning in life. Remember – it’s not about the burger.