Jeremy was working in the kitchen of his food truck, preparing everything for the lunchtime rush. He was parked in his usual spot along the road running beside the park, which was on the shore of the lake.
He took a moment to look out the order window and smiled. It was a beautiful, warm, sunny day. The grass was green, the birds were chirping, and the lake was calm as the wind was low. In a couple of hours it would be wall to wall people, but now it was quiet and calm. There were a few trees in the park, standing tall, absorbing the bright sunshine cascading down upon them.
Beside Jeremy’s food truck was a sidewalk, where people stood to order, and across the sidewalk were a few picnic tables that people sometimes used when they ordered from him. There weren’t any other trucks along the road, yet, but he knew John and Phillippe would be there soon with their trucks. Jeremy liked to get there early and get the spot closest to the picnic tables.
Jeremy went back to his work. There was a soup pot on the stove that was simmering, and some bread rolls were cooling, having come out of the oven a few minutes before. He held his hand a few inches above the flattop and could feel the heat starting there. He could hear the air conditional on top of the truck working hard to remove the heat. It would get hotter in the truck later when things got busier, but for now it was still comfortable.
Jeremy was cutting grilled chicken breasts into pieces for the fajitas that were one of the items on his menu, when he heard a tap on the order window. A man was looking in.
Jeremy slid the window open and said, ‘Good morning’.
‘Good morning,’ said the man in response. ‘I was wondering if you are selling anything yet. I didn’t have breakfast and I could use something to tide me over until lunch, when I’m meeting someone in the park.’ The man was looking at the menu hung on the side of the truck.
‘Sure. What would you like. It might take me a few extra minutes to prepare something, as not everything’s ready yet, but if you can wait, I can get you anything on the menu.’
Jeremy could see the man reading down the menu. He got to the bottom of the list and chuckled, ‘What’s this? It says Sinner’s Special, and there’s no price beside it.’
Jeremy smiled, ‘It’s a lean vegetable soup, mostly broth, and it comes with a glass of water, and 1 or 2 dinner rolls. You can choose whatever you want to pay me for it.’
The man laughed. ‘Really? What if I don’t want to pay you anything?’. He added, ‘I’m an atheist, so quite a sinner, so you’d better be careful.’ The man looked at Jeremy with a twinkle in his eyes.
Jeremy smiled and said, ‘I think I can trust you. Some people pay me a penny, and some people pay more. It’s up to you. Oh, and you don’t pay until after you have finished the meal.’
The man shook his head. ‘OK, now I have to try that. It sounds too good to be true.’
Jeremy asked him, ‘What’s your name?’
‘Brian,’ the man replied.
‘Well, Brian, would you like one dinner roll or two?’
‘One is fine’, Brian laughed, ‘When I rip you off without paying, I don’t want to take too much from you.’
Jeremy chuckled and turned around to face the stove. He took a large soup bowl, matching small plate, and a soup spoon out of a cabinet beside the stove. With a ladle he filled the bowl to just below the rim, put a dinner roll on the plate, and put everything on a plastic tray. He added a napkin, poured some ice water into a glass, and put that on the tray. He picked up the tray, turned it sidewise and passed it through the order window.
Brian’s eyes widened, ‘That’s more than I was expecting.’ He smiled and said, ‘I promise I won’t steal the nice tableware and cutlery.’ He paused, ‘You want me to pay after, right?’
‘Right.’
‘OK,’ said Brian. He turned and walked over to one of the nearby picnic tables.
Jeremy closed the sliding window, and went back to his work, cutting the chicken for the fajitas. After about 5 minutes, when he had finished that, he leaned over and took a quick peek out the order window. Brian was sitting rigid, his right hand holding the spoon midway between the bowl and his mouth. His head was turned and he was staring out at the lake. Jeremy smiled and starting cutting the beef for the fajitas.
After about 15 minutes, when had finished cutting the beef, he looked out the window again, and he saw that Brian had his elbows on the table, and his face was in his cupped hands. His body was shaking. He was crying.
Jeremy made the sign of the cross, and went back to his work, starting on the various sauces he would need for the lunchtime rush. He didn’t look outside again until he heard a tap at the window.
Jeremy slid the window pane back and Brian said, ‘What was in that soup? What did you do to me?’
‘The soup contains a few vegetables and some vegetable broth, as far as I know. I don’t make it.’
‘You sell it, you should know what’s in it.’
Jeremy said, ‘Just give me a second and I’ll come out and I’ll tell you all about it.’ Jeremy went to the back of the truck, opened the door and jumped down to the road. He walked over to where Brian stood. Brian’s eyes were a bit red from the crying, and he looked lost, as if in unfamiliar territory.
‘Brian, let’s sit down.’ Jeremy led him over to the picnic table where Brian had been sitting. They sat opposite one another. Jeremy said, ‘Brian, I don’t make the soup. What happens is this. Every morning I bring my food truck to this spot. When I open the back of the truck and climb in, the soup pot is sitting on the stove and it’s full of the broth with a few vegetables in it. I turn on the stove first thing and get it simmering. I do make the dinner rolls. Every once in a while someone like you comes to the truck and orders the Sinner’s Special. I ask how many rolls they want. Sometimes they order one and sometimes they order two. The people who order one, usually go through what you just did. The ones who order two, usually don’t.’
‘I don’t believe you,’ Brian said.
Jeremy raised the palms of his hands, shrugged his shoulders and said, ‘I’m telling you the truth, Brian. Now let me tell you a few things others have told me, and we’ll see if that’s what happened to you.’
‘OK,’ said Brian.
‘People tell me that when they take the first spoonful of soup it has an unusual taste. It tastes good but they’ve never tasted anything like it before. They tell me it’s kind of like what people think eating beautiful flowers would taste like.’
‘Yes, that happened,’ said Brian.
‘Next, I hear that as they eat more of it, their senses become sharpened, but their body becomes more still, at peace. They usually end up looking out at the lake, and lose all track of time, because they can hear every whisper of the wind as it travels across the lake.’
‘Yes,’ said Brian.
‘Lastly, they usually tell me that they hear the words, ‘I love you,’ and then, ‘Please follow me.’ At that point, they tend to feel that they have missed out on so much in life, and they start to cry. Then so many memories come up from their past where they have made decisions, and they say the words, ‘I’m sorry,’ over and over again.
Brian stared at him. ‘Yes, that’s what happened to me.’
Jeremy said, ‘it’s what happens to almost everyone who orders just one dinner roll.’
Brian sighed. ‘Why is it just one dinner roll?’
‘I’m not sure,’ Jeremy replied, ‘but I think it’s because that person is ready to have less of what is on earth. They don’t feel the need to have the most of everything. This is important to God, I think.’
Brian thought for a moment, ‘So what do I do now’?
Jeremy reached into his pocket and pulled out a piece of paper. As he unfolded it, he said, ‘Take a look at this paper. It has a list of nearby churches. Let me know if there is one that stands out to you more than the others? Maybe it’s more bolded, or maybe it’s shimmering. Something like that.’ He handed the paper over to Brian.
Brian took a quick look at the paper and said, ‘The fourth one is bolded. You can see it yourself.’
Jeremy said, ‘They are all written in the same font and boldness. I see them all the same.’ He looked at the paper. ‘The fourth one is St. Michael’s, the Catholic church. It’s just down the road a block.’ He pointed behind Brian. ‘I tell people to go to the church that stands out for them, and sit in one of the pews for an hour and pray. You’ll still have time to meet your friend after that.’
‘I don’t know how to pray.’
‘Just talk in your mind. Just say, ‘God, I don’t know how to pray, so please help me.’ Then tell God about what happened to you here.’
‘If it’s God who did this, wouldn’t He already know?’
‘Yeah but He’ll like to hear it from your perspective. Then tell God how you feel about it, and then ask Him what He wants you to do. He’ll tell you. Really, what you are trying to do is start a relationship with Him, so start simple.’
‘Should I expect a big booming voice in the church, or something?’
‘Well, no one has ever told me that happened to them, but heh, you never know. Usually what happens is a small voice in your mind says something that you’ve never thought of before. Either that, or something that’s been in the back of your mind for a while suddenly becomes much more important to you. I had one person tell me they had a very vivid dream when they slept that night. It seems the response to each person is a little different, but something like that is what happens to most people.’
Brian sat for a moment, lost in thought, and the stood up, held out his hand and said, ‘Thank you.’
Jeremy stood up, shook his hand, and said, ‘No, thank you, for listening to God. It takes courage to do what you are about to do. You are starting on an amazing journey. I wish you well. And feel free to come back anytime and tell me how it’s going. I’d love to hear all about it.’
Brian stepped away from the picnic table and pointed behind him. ‘That way?’
‘Yes, that way. Just head straight down the road, you can’t miss it’.
Brian started turning to go and saw the dishes and spoon where he had been sitting, ‘Oh, I forgot to bring the bowl and cutlery back to the truck.’
Jeremy said, ‘Don’t worry about it. I’ll take care of it. Go to the church. He’s waiting for you.
Brian waved his thanks, and started walking his path to God.
The end.
Peace be with you.
Steve.
Peace Be With You 