Power of Love

Greyhound Station in Calgary

20 December 2009 

We were more than two hours late getting into the Greyhound station in Edmonton. Snowy road conditions resulted in us arriving at 2 am, which meant for sure we had missed the midnight bus to Westlock. The next one was at 9 am.

It was pretty quiet in the station after all the people cleared out for whom Edmonton was the final destination. The station was officially closed from 12:30 am to 5:30 am and the security guard kicked out anyone who did not have a ticket. Ingrid noticed one such person being thrown out—likely one of the homeless people who wanted a warm place to stay. That left four of us passengers, the security guard and two custodial staff.

At 6:00 am the A&W located at the end of the terminal opened for service, so Ingrid and I decided to get some breakfast. While we were eating, Ingrid noticed the man who had been kicked out of the station earlier in the morning. He was seated in the corner behind me sipping a coffee. She suggested that we get him some breakfast. So I bought a breakfast sandwich, grabbed my coffee and sat down at the man’s booth. I offered him the sandwich, which he accepted, and I asked him how he was doing with the cold weather. 

Victor (I asked his name later) said the cold wasn’t so bad as the pain he was suffering resulting from a crushed vertebra—L1 and L2. He had had surgery and a spinal fusion done last summer, but he still had issues. At one point later he had broken his foot.  Shortly after that he stumbled when caught his cast on an uneven part of a sidewalk, which caused a resurgence of the pain in his back. His back problems were evident by how he walked when he got up to get another cup of coffee. 

I heard more of his story, punctuated by comments of how good the breakfast sandwich is. I find out that Victor had been twice widowed. He separated from his first wife in 1993; she died of lung cancer in 2000. He had remarried, but his second wife drank herself to death in 2004. He was working in Barrhead at the time. 

At one point, I think in about 2002, he was in a bad car accident. He was thrown from his vehicle. The doctors did not give him a good prognosis— he had massive internal injuries, broken ribs and other broken bones, and a punctured lung. He was in a coma for 5 days, but walked out of the hospital two weeks later. 

In spite of all that he had been through, Victor had a better attitude than many people I know. He was not bitter, but he definitely was discouraged by the back problems. I offeedr to pray for him and he approved. 

Afterwards, Victor, on the verge of tears, said, “I’ve never had anyone pray for me before.” We part and I saw him continue to fight the tears as he walked away. 

Victor did not so much need the sandwich as he needed someone to love him. He had been the recipient of many benefits of Canada’s social system—all of the medical treatment he has had—but love and genuine concern about him as a person was not included in the benefits. 

As Paul writes in 1 Corinthians:

If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal.  If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but have not love, I am nothing.  If I give all I possess to the poor and surrender my body to the flames, but have not love, I gain nothing. 1 Corinthians 13:1-3 (NIV)

 

Maybe that was why our bus was late. Perhaps God arranged a snow delay for Victor’s sake.