The Blind Beggar: Part XXV

Dark clouds again settled on Boulos.  Per his personality, he internalized it.  Too often in his life, he never had anyone to which he could share his heart anyway.  Alone he was with thoughts of his uselessness.  Loneliness was shown in his whole demeanor.  His face was downcast and his gait slower. 

Everyone can read body language.  We are born with this ability and recognize what the face and body say long before a word is spoken.  We do this without realizing it.  Some people are in tune with this unspoken dialect.  Charles was fluent in this language.

He continued having coffee with Boulos after the work day and, in hindsight, saw the first signs.  However, he was preoccupied with other matters to let the unspoken words reach the ears of his heart.  Once the conversations were properly received, Charles worked to maintain focus and respond in the manner needed. 

Charles and Rima invited Boulos to dinner one night.  Boulos was taken aback by the invitation.  His initial reaction was to decline but realized he had no other plans but to stay in the apartment alone with his gloomy thoughts.  On the planned day, Boulos left work a few minutes early to get home clean up and change his clothes before the two men walked to the apartment. 

Since dinner was nearly ready, the couple sat him in a chair at the table and Rima set the table.  Boulos felt self-conscious and quite conspicuous as activity was about him.  Though the trio had known one another for some time, the formality of a new event retarded the flow of their interactions.  Rima began asking Boulous about his job.  He enjoyed his work and once Boulos began speaking about it, the tightness in the air lifted.

Both Charles and Rima spoke to Boulos as a person and genuinely cared about him.  Once their toddler, Miles, finished eating, he wanted to go to Boulos.  Boulos had held Miles before but this was the first time the boy wanted to go to him.  Once on Boulos’s lap, Miles turned to face him.  Then Boulos lifted Miles a little and the boy place his feet on Boulos’s lap and stood.  The two were face to face. 

Instantly, the boy reached to grasp two handfuls of beard and pulled.  It wasn’t enough to hurt but Rima chided the youngster for pulling on the beard.  Boulos decided to have some fun.  He made a funny face as he said, “Boo!”

Miles broke out in laughter which was contagious to the adults focused on the boy.  He looked at his parents, relishing in the attention.  Boulos again said, “Boo!”  Once more Miles laughed heartily and those around him chortled in reply.  Over and over the sequence repeated.  The joy of the moment affected them all.  Boulos laughed until he cried.  He said, “Oh, my stomach.  I haven’t laughed this hard in years.”

Rima agreed, “Same here.”

As Charles walked Boulos home, Boulos asked, “Mr. Charles, why do you and Mrs. Rima take interest in me?  I am no one.”

“That’s not true.  You are someone.”

“Ok but I am not important.”

“You’re important to me.”

“But why?  Why am I important?”  It was an existential question that came from the pit of his being.  He desperately wanted to know why Charles and Rima treated him as a person when the rest of the world ignored him.  What was different now?  What was different with them?

“Jesus once said it isn’t healthy people who need a doctor but the sick.  He also commanded us to love one another.  Because we’ve experienced God’s love, we want to share it with others.  You probably haven’t experienced much love in your life.”  Boulos was silent.

“Boulos, I believe in a personal God.  I believe He meets us where we are with all of our flaws and is willing to look past them because he wants a relationship with us.  But we have to choose to have a relationship with Him.”

There was something about those sentences that spoke to Boulos.  For the first time, he was receptive when Charles and Rima spoke about Jesus.