The Everyday Club

11/26/10     Reggie    , 59
I found an older African-American man, Reggie, sitting at a Starbucks reading his newspaper. He agreed to answer my questions and told me he grew up Baptist but stopped regular church attendance after he left his parent's home. He goes to a Catholic mass now and then - "Whenever I feel in the mood". He doesn't read the Bible. He believes in God and that He is good, yet Reggie is confused by all the bad in the world, mentioning first the death of his daughter, but also many other things like poverty, crime, and global warming. "On the other hand" he said, "there are good things going on in the world...Imagine me, a black man, and you, a white man, sitting here talking about the important things in life!" I asked about how he will be judged, and we both agreed that God won't compare people to one another because everyone is born with unique circumstances and gifts and talents, and it would be like trying to compare apples and oranges, but Reggie said "Well I think I'm 90% good, not perfect of course." I said that God has his own standard and after he compared himself to just a few of the 10 Commandments Reggie said, "Now I'm not so sure, maybe I'm 50/50". He had to meet his wife in a few minutes so I shared what I could of the gospel before we parted.