"The Company You Keep"

The Company You Keep

One afternoon, the young Pastor of a well known local church locked up his building after replacing a few fixtures inside. He then headed down the sidewalk about a block or two to the parking lot where his car was parked. He would make this walk every two or three days per week and would be greeted by little kids playing and elderly people sitting on their porch; but on this particular day, it was unusually quiet out; and not one person could be found anywhere in the area.

He got within one block from his church when he heard a woman scream. He stopped right where he was and stood still to see if he could hear the woman's voice again in hopes of finding out where it came from. A minute or so passed and no sound could be heard. Just then, he heard rapid footsteps that grew louder and faster as he stood there. Before he could react, however: he turned around to see a man dressed in a moist, dingy black sweatshirt and tattered jeans standing only a few steps away from him. He had a skull cap covering his face with the eyes cut out; which obviously implied that he was either a robber or much worse.

His assumptions were confirmed when he looked down to see the long, sharp, blood-stained machete tightly gripped in the man's hand. He was sure that the man would lunge out at him with the weapon; but to his surprise, the man instead removed his mask, stared the Pastor down for ten seconds or so, and darted past him down the street and around the corner. 

Completely befuddled by what has just transpired, the Pastor just shook his head and reached in his pocket in hopes of calling the police to report what he just saw. To his misfortune, however: his cell phone battery was completely drained; so he said a prayer to God for the safety of anyone else who should encounter the mysterious man and continued towards his car.

That evening, while eating dinner with his family, he overheard his television in the living room. The news reporter mentioned a masked murderer that was arrested and taken into custody around 3:36 p.m.; which happened to be about ten minutes or so after his encounter with the person. The man was reportedly responsible for the stabbing deaths of about seven people earlier that day. He stepped away from the table and into the room to view the person's face; and sure enough, it was the exact same person he encountered earlier that day.

Later on that night after his daily bible study with his family, he decided that he would go to the prison the next day to visit the man that he shared that awkward experience with in hopes of asking him a question or two. He arrived at the prison the next day a little after 12:00 that afternoon. The security guard accompanied him down the hall to the cells and stood outside the door while the pastor greeted the man from outside of the cell.

Still slightly confused about what happened a day earlier, he asked the man: "In light of what you were obviously up to yesterday, one thing still doesn't quite make sense to me: Why didn't you lunge out at me in the same manner that you did with those you've previously killed that day? Is it because you knew that I was a pastor and would feel a certain degree of guilt afterwards?" The man, still dressed in his same clothes, looked up at him and replied: "It wasn't guilt that saved you, man. The seven people that I killed earlier were all alone when I did so. No witnesses to be found."

"I had every intention of killing you as well; but you had too many people surrounding you."

Without saying another word, the young Pastor left the prison and headed for his vehicle once again. This time, however: His comfort was raised exponentially; because he knew that hedge of protection that he always preached about was much more than just a Sunday sermon.

Be mindful of the company you keep. It just may be the very company that keeps you alive.