The Agnostic Who Interrupted My Prayer Walk

Fear of Dogs, interruptions And How Both Teach Us Presence

“My wife leaves today for Sierra Leone. She is a missionary. But I am an agnostic”

A broad smile smeared across his face as his tiny cockerpoo came wagging its tail towards me

“Stop”. I ordered the dog. Then “I am afraid of dogs” I explained to him

“She is harmless and friendly”. He reassures

Alright. Let’s start this story properly.

Sunrise across the Ocean

The Unexpected Encounter at the Seafront

5.45am. My phone confirmed the time as I appeared at the fork at the top of the incline.

“Good”. I still have 15 minutes before I join the prayer.

“By then I would have reached the beach at the end of the trail”

I calculated as I leaned my elbows at the top of the coastal defence walls and soaked in the majesty of the grey ocean.

In a split second though, I took a right turn instead of a left. My curiosity at seeing the newly built path trumped.

Then two factors reset my head

Firstly, it was quite early and I was a female non dog-walker

Second, I had identified which part of the beach contained the objects I wanted, and it wasn’t along that route.

Immediately, I pivoted and began walking backwards. I saw him then. A well dressed gentleman with his dog walking my way

” Isn’t it so lovely?”. He beamed at me and pointed towards the skies

Apparently, he had noticed me soaking in the beauty of the sunrise and praying out loud

” Oh yes, it is. Very beautiful” I agreed and made to sidestep him

He drew closer then told me about his missionary wife and him being an agnostic.

An information which my Nigerian Christian head tried to process right away but I shoved it down.

That gentleman was in a chirpy mood while I was in prayer mode. And was trying to make the most of it before I joined my Online 6am prayers

I made to move on but he kept talking and moving closer.

The well dressed gentleman with his dog

The Stories He Carried

He began telling me of his wife’s missionary journeys across the Globe.

She volunteers with a UK charity and 3 times a year, she goes away for 4 weeks each

How the Sri Lanka civil war affected her in 2004 during her time there. What she saw the Tamil rebels do and he thought she would quit after that

How she would feel again years later when a child died from a dog bite in Sierra Leone. Merely because he didn’t complete the dosage of the anti-rabies drug

“Now you understand why we are scared of dogs. Where we come from they are security threats, not pets” I chuckled at him

Why Dawn Is Sacred to Me

You see, I am that sort of person who holds the dawn hours in reverence. So sacrosanct is it that I fall into that class which other humans term as ‘not a morning person’

Communion with Nature is part of my morning rituals. It performs multiple functions not limited to;

Helping me reboot and anchoring my day

There is something absolutely wonderful about stepping out at dawn and watching nature wake up. In addition to seeing fellow members of the Morning Club do their thing.

While some stay in their shells, a few peek out intermittently giving or responding to greetings.

However, there is yet another class who actually pause to commune with each other.

I have seen all sorts during my morning walks. Yet, the vast majority prefer to fellowship with Nature than with man.

And I fall within that.

Jesus and the Ministry of Stopping for One

So as this man nudged closer, I reminded my hurrying heart that he was more important than the prayer walk….. …

My conversation with God can wait. Not more important than this man in flesh before me, who wanted to be seen and acknowledged.

In the scheme of things, this man standing beside me took preeminence over any other mission I presumed I had set out for this morning.

“What if he was the reason I left home?”

“Would Jesus not cut short his missions merely to minister to one needy person placed along his way?”. …………

• Blind Bartimaeus.

• The bleeding woman.

• The divorcee at the Well.

• The man whose son was harassed by demons

• The Widow of Nan’s son

Name them. Jesus always gave precedence to the one standing along his way than where he was headed. And why should a disciple like me act holier than the Master?

Mike, Nala, and the History of the Coastline

So I stopped and listened to Mike talk.

He gave me a background of how this entire area by the ocean used to be a rubbish dump back in the day. And it was good to see how it has been reclaimed and beautified

He described the area during WW2 when he was a kid. Then joked how I couldn’t have been born then

” How old are you?”. I laughed

‘Almost 85″. He smiled as I did a double take and peered at him unbelievably

He managed to get me to stroke his dog. Then clapped for me for in his words ‘facing and overcoming my fears’

We spent more time before he released me with…..

” I have to let you go now so I can continue on my way”

The Three Minutes I Didn’t Regret Losing

As Mike walked off with Nala his dog, I looked at my time…..6:03am

I had lost 3 of the 10 minutes of the prayer. But I felt so bubbly and fulfilled like I just accomplished something standing by the seaside communing with a total stranger at dawn.

Tell me, how do you see interruptions when they threaten your rigid timetable?