So, as a part-time job, I drive a rickshaw downtown, also known as a pedi-cab. It is a great job, primarily because I get paid to excercise. It is also, however, a very tiring job. Often one works about 6 or more hours for the night as you peddle around downtown for most of that time. On the weekends you can go for as long as 10-12 hours, and if you are busy you don't really stop peddling too often. It is great excercise!
But what I find more exciting is meeting all sorts of different people. I had the pleasure of meeting a couple from Idaho who own their own business where the gentleman makes parts for rock crushing. They were a very kind and generous couple that I spent about 3 hours hanging around with - they even bought me dinner. That was a great evening. I also met a gentleman from Boulder who had gone to a rock concert and decided he was hungry at 2:00 in the morning and invited me to dine with him at the Denver Diner. That was an interesting night. Often people invite me for a drink, and that has always been a nice experience, which often leads to a discussion about what I do for my daytime "gig" here at Notre Dame. Sometimes people are open to hearing about what I do in teaching people how to become Catholic. Other times people get very annoyed that a Christian is talking to them about their faith at a bar/restaurant. Yet again another example of the crazy adventure that is the Catholic Faith lived!
Last Friday night, however, I was out late and giving people rides home from a night out. I happened to have two very interesting rides to end my night, which I found to be very indicative of our culture. First, I picked up a young man who had been drinking what seemed to be significant amounts, though he seemed coherent enough, as he had the wherewithal to have a bike-taxi take him home. However, he invited some young ladies to join him on the ride toward his home. I often tell people, "I am not there to judge anyone, I am just there to give rides." I always reflect on the Lord's admonition to "judge not lest you be judged (Mt 7:1)," whenever I say that. Nevertheless, I began to pray for these people. Interestingly, at a certain point the young man said, "I never said I would pay for you,... (for charity's sake, let's say he said "ladies")!" At which I point I took him to where he needed to go a few more blocks while the two young ladies berated him for his "change of heart" in having their company on the ride home. Luckily, they didn't live too far and I was sure they were just wanting to get the free ride home any way, as I believe they had been drinking slight amounts of alcohol, as well.
This for me was a great sign of the promiscuous activities of some people who frequent some of the downtown establishments. This quick loss of respect for the dignity of these two feminine persons was a profound one! I had no idea what caused this young man to suddenly find a deep disrespect for these young ladies! But it was both quick and significant dislike for these ladies. Interesting.
Immediately after this, I picked up four people who needed to get home: two men, and two young ladies. As I dropped them off, one young lady, whose name is "Leah" (let's say) decided to start asking me questions. Interestingly, she began to tell me the story of how she was now dating a married man who was cheating on his wife with her. She surprisingly noted how she was in a "full blown adulterous relationship." Initially, he didn't tell her, but she found out after a "rendezvous" or six. Her question to me, "What do you think I should do?" Naturally, I began to explain to her that she was worth so much more than being a mere "piece of meat" to this "guy" who was not living up to his commitments. I also noted how he was acting as a "mere child" who wanted to "have his cake and eat it too," so to speak. I recalled for her why do Americans like and celebrate Marines, or anyone in the military? It is because for us Americans, they symbolize commitment. They are willing to live and die for something! This is the stuff that "men" were once made of! Unfortunately, in our modern world, though, now so-called "gentlemen" go to "clubs" that somehow have been set aside to cater to their passions and illict desires. No wonder then this young man seemed to have no problem being with Leah and his wife. Sadly, she even explained how he even took her into public places and "displayed his affection for her." Nevertheless, Leah seemed to not get that there was even a problem with any of this behavior!
It seems to me that this is not unusual in our modern day. For Leah, as for many people, "marital relations" are not marital and barely are relations. So many people miss the profound beauty of withholding yourself until you commit to the joy of giving oneself entirely in service and receiving another of the opposite sex in Holy Matrimony. But how could we come to this point in our society? If you have kept up with my blog then you would know that Michael Voris has something to say about these things, especially his recent expose on "The Contraception Deception." Whatever was the cause, however, I would suggest to you, dear reader, that it is incumbent on each of us, as Catholics, to BE THE ANSWER! We must take the gospel to all places! From our workplaces, to the nightclubs, to the comedy clubs, to the bars all over the city of Denver. We can not think that we should be lax or comfortable with where our Lord's Kingdom is at the moment. It must be expanded!!! And we are the ones who must go into the world to proclaim the Good News of salvation and redemption in Jesus Christ. If we are not doing that, then we only have ourselves to blame for the Leah's of the of world, who enter into adulterous or promiscuous relationships and are aware something is wrong, but can't quite convince themselves of it. In fact, she seemed to know in her heart of hearts that she was in something bad, but was trying to convince me that it really wasn't that bad!
As for me, I had to be clear with Leah and invited her to stop this "affair" before she ruined a marriage and found herself heartbroken. I can't say that she definitely did, because moments after I finished my exhortation to her, the young husband, at 2:30 in the morning, showed up in front of her apartment. He introduced himself to me. I said, "Hello," casually and pedaled off into the night praying for Leah to have the grace to make the right decision. It was a great moment to reflect, it seems to me, that we are to be about the business of planting seeds in people's lives, it is up to God to water them with his grace. As for the other young man, I think we must understand how disposable people see their "love interests" these days, because it speaks to the lack of respect and cherishing the goodness of the opposite sex in a holy way. May you and I see our ambassadorship for Christ's kingdom more clearly, because the world is wallowing in sin and mankind awaits the healing of their hearts and fulfillment of their souls in Jesus Christ! By they way, please join me in praying for "Leah," as her soul was graced enough to see clearly that something was not right in her life. Let us pray she has the grace to act in repentance.
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