Encountering an extraordinary God in ordinary life
Issue # 247 September 01, 2001
SOS

This morning’s Gleanings is a little different. On occasion, I write a Christ centered short story rather than my normal devotional. I hope you enjoy SOS.

Be blessed by the great I Am today.

Kevin

SOS

I stood, shivering outside by the grave site. While old Pastor Ostenburger droned on, my thoughts drifted back to the last time I had seen my friend alive ...I was sitting in my shop enjoying a cup of coffee between customers.

I own a used book store in Pine Brook, one of the finest in these parts, Buckman’s Books.

A brand new, bright red clearcoat, Ford F150 Supercrew pickup pulled up outside. The logo, painstakingly detailed on the side of the door panel read, in large letters,

SOS

Underneath that in smaller letters was,

Slim’s Oilfield Service
Pine Brook
Got a disaster? No one’s faster!

Slim’s was the local oilfield disaster outfit. If you had a blow out, a spill or a fire, Slim was your man.

He had a reputation for doing exemplary work at a fair price. Slim also had an unquenchable hunger for knowledge and devoured incredible quantities of books. In short, he was one of my favorite customers.

Slim looks like his nickname, he isn’t a big man, maybe 5’6 and weighs about 135 pounds. He’s in his mid fifties and is clean shaven with a graying crew cut.

Slim always wears the same thing, a white tee shirt, blue jeans, steel toed work boots and his red jacket, with the boldly embroidered SOS logo. Unless he was suited up for a job, I don’t think I ever saw him wear anything else.

The young fellow with him, Tobias Tyler, called Tee or Big Tee, by most folks around here, was Slim’s physical opposite.

He stood 6’6, weighed about 270, all of it muscle. He was always dressed like Slim, but wore a bushy mustache and hair as long as the safety guys would let him get away with.

Big Tee was about thirty and had worked for Slim since graduating from high school. Tee was a minor celebrity in these parts.

He was an all around good athlete, the rare kind, one without an inflated ego. In high school he played baseball, basketball and football well enough to get offered several full athletic scholarships to college. Big Tee chose not to go, because fighting fires seemed more interesting than more time at school.

Tee was one of those guys you could always count on being there. If something needed moving, you called Big Tee. If you wanted a hunting or fishing partner, Tee was always up for it.

I’d heard stories, from reliable sources, Tee helped out a few of the locals with loans, when they were between jobs or in a bind. He never seemed to hold it over anyone’s head, just kept it quiet. Just your basic decent sort.

Sometimes, Tee played up his jock image. I guess he held on to the idea it wasn’t cool to be smart, but he was one of the brightest and well read men in these parts. Big Tee was almost as big a spender in my shop as Slim.

They walked in and poured themselves a coffee my pot.

Slim drawled “How’s it goin’ Buckman?”

“Good, as always. Pull up a chair guys, and tell me what’s up with you these days. Nice new wheels Slim!”

“Should be for what a truck costs these days!” he said as he sat down in one of the two wing backs at the front of my store.

Big Tee grabbed a wooden chair from beside the counter and eased himself onto it. Big Tee never did anything quickly, unless it was on a playing field. He was deceptively fast when he wanted to be.

“Awful coffee, Buckman” remarked Tee. All my customers complained about the coffee, but I liked it, and they never refused a cup.

“We’ve had a couple of slow days, so I’ve been trying to catch up on my reading” Slim remarked. “Wondered what you had got in that was new and interesting. Got anything exciting since we were here last?”

“I saved a couple of books on steam engineering for you, and a first edition Agatha Christie. I also just got a whole stack of stuff on bass fishing the other day. Never saw so many bass fishing books in one place before. A collector over in Devon passed on and his wife would have thrown them out, if her friend hadn’t convinced her to call me. Go back 200 years almost.” I laughed, “ The books that is, not the widow and her friend.”

Slim and Tee both loved to fish, so the mention of the bass books piqued their interest. Wheeling a dolly with three big boxes on it over to them, I encouraged them to check the contents out.

Tearing through the boxes, like kids on a Christmas present, or as Slim would put it, like a wildcat on a rabbit, they made short sounds of approval. After the first run through, they began to sort in earnest. Books were piling up on the tables and on the floor.

As he lifted the Bible I always keep on the center table, Tee asked “Buckman, would you put this old Bible someplace, so we’ve got some room?”

“No problem.”

“Don’t know why you need a Bible anyway. You know that if there is a God, he surely doesn’t care about us.”

“Why do you say that Tee?”

“I figure he built this world and moved on. Too many problems for him to have stuck around.”

“You do think it was God who created this planet then?”

“Sure. How can a man be out on a lake ifshing at sunrise or out in a tree stand during hunting season, without knowing someone had to have created all that beauty? Right Slim?”

Slim grunted his agreement, and went back to reading the leather bound classic that had caught his eye.

We talked for a couple of hours about God, and about Jesus. I shared with Big Tee that accepting Jesus was the only way to heaven and we debated the whole issue frontwards and backwards.

“Well, I’m a young guy Buckman. I’ve got lots of time before I have to make those kind of decisions. What you said makes a lot of sense. I will give it some serious thought.”

Slim admonished him, “You’d better! Buckman is right on about Jesus.”

Getting up to serve another customer, I left Slim and Big Tee continuing their diligent perusal of the bass books. In the end, they bought all three boxes at a price that would pay all my expenses for the next few months. I probably could have got more for them at a collectors auction, but I like to give my regulars first crack at the really good stuff.

“We’re going up to Chipman Lake, a week Tuesday.” Big Tee said as they headed out. “Gonna get some largemouth. I hear they are biting like mad. You want to come with us?”

“Love to, but I’m open on Tuesdays. Another time perhaps.”

When a week Tuesday rolled around, I was regretting my decision not to go with them. I hadn’t seen a single customer by noon. The first couple of hours were great because I caught up on my mail orders and paperwork, but the time dragged after that.

I was even glad to see old lady Tompkins come in. She could talk your ear off and seldom bought much, but she could be counted on to know the latest scoop on everyone in a hundred mile radius.

“Afternoon, Mrs. Tompkins.”

“Good afternoon to you, Mr. Buckman.”

We talked a while about a few of my regulars and she looked at some of my latest acquisitions. She asked “Are you going to the funeral tomorrow morning, or will you be open?”

“Funeral? Who died?” Sometimes I really did feel like I spent too much time in the store.

“Big Tee. I was sure you’d know about it. An awful tragedy.”

“When?” I stammered, “What happened? I just saw him a week or so back.

“Four or five days ago. I guess he got caught in a back draft out at one of the well sites. Nobody told you?”

“Not a word.”

“He was over in the ICU at County for three days. Burns over 90% of his body. I guess he regained consciousness a couple of times, but not for long. They say he was in a lot of pain, so it was probably a good thing when he passed on. I guess Slim never left the hospital the whole time.”

Still stunned, I said “I’ll be at the service. Where and when?”

“The First Evangelical Free Church of Christ cemetery. Tomorrow at 9:00 AM. I’ll see you there,” she said as she headed out the door.

A tear formed in my eye as I heard the shovel of dirt hit the coffin. I wondered if Tee made the decision for Jesus during those three days.

I hoped so, because the alternative wasn’t very pleasant. I guess sometimes we don’t know until we get to heaven ourselves. I prayed that Tee had made the right choice.

Wiping a tear Slim nudged me, “Let’s go fishing. Big Tee would like that.”

“I think he would at that.” I agreed. “He’d like that a lot. I’ll get my gear.”

If you’ve never made a decision for Jesus, or you’re unsure about where you go after you die, email me. I’ll send you a few Bible verses that explain why a personal relationship with Jesus is important. I’ll also share a prayer that will make that relationship, and eternity in heaven with Him possible.