I thought I’d share a true story, as many of you are about to leave for Christmas Eve gigs.
This happened to me about 20 years ago.
I was friends with a music director at a large church in Los Angeles. His name was John Rice. He gave me quite a few “breaks” when I was beginning and we were great friends.
Eventually I left Los Angeles, and he left for Kentucky.
One evening in Phoenix, I was leaving the Old Spaghetti Factory when a man ran across six lanes of traffic and came right up to me. At first I honestly thought it was John–the resemblance was astounding. Even the voice was familiar. But it wasn’t John. It was somebody else.
This man was close to frantic. He said to me, “I’m not a bum….I can show you my driver’s license. I’m desperate for cash to buy gas for my car so I can get where I HAVE to be. Please, please….anything you have, could you give it to me?” Normally I dismiss these things as scams–as many are–but there was something very unnerving about this guy. He really DID seem sincere, and he sure seemed to look, sound, and act like John Rice.
I opened my wallet. I had $10. I gave it to him, showed him my wallet, and said, ‘That’s all I have.”
The man, still frantic, bowed and said, “Oh, thank you, THANK YOU!” over and over. He bounded back towards the street. I turned to put my wallet back in my hip pocket, and when I turned back he was simply gone. Central Avenue is six lanes wide….and he was simply GONE. I was still a little unnerved, but I got in my car and went home.
The next day I received word that John Rice had been killed in a car wreck in Kentucky. If my memory serves, he was forced off a freeway on-ramp by another car, hit the guard rail, and flipped many times.
And I swear this is true–the time this happened almost perfectly aligned with the time my mysterious stranger approached me.
To this day I don’t know if somehow John came to me at that moment. Was this some sort of spiritual test of compassion or caring? Scripture tells us that “don’t forget to be friendly to outsiders; for in so doing, some people, without knowing it, have entertained angels.” I honestly don’t know. If it was a spiritual test of some kind, I hope I passed it.
I share this with you because on this night, as you play your harps for countless people who come to feel peace and joy, perhaps YOU will be entertaining an angel or two.
David Ice
.
