I'll Take a Venti with a Side of Jesus ♥
02 June, 2015
There's nothing more refreshing to me than an early swim. Waking up while it's still dark out, driving through empty streets to a pool, and hopping into cool water is my bliss. So naturally, I swam with the Malibu Masters swim team once my Pepperdine University swim season was over. One particular morning last year, we swam at the Malibu High School outdoor pool instead of swimming at our regular go-to of Pepperdine due to pool maintenance. I woke up at 5:30 AM, slammed a coffee, and was in the pool by 6 AM.
Some masters (aka adult) teams are geared toward laid-back beginners and aren't too intense. But not Malibu. People there take swimming extremely seriously, and I'll admit I got my butt kicked a few times from some of the older swimmers.
Anyways, after that practice, I joined two of my fellow swimmers at the Trancas Starbucks. This Starbucks is verrrry deep into Malibu, basically meaning it's locals only. People who live out by Trancas are pretty far from everything; it's a fairly desolate area compared to the southern end of Malibu neighboring Santa Monica and LA.
My friends and I all ordered coffee's and those cute little egg biscuits and took a seat at the quiet coffee shop. I was graduating in about a month and chatting with the two people I was with, a man and woman much older than me (both of which are beasts in the water) about my plans post-graduation. I pulled my Bible out of my swim bag and started telling them (neither of which were strong Christians) about how I was trusting in God to lead me in the right direction, wherever that may be.
As I was flipping through my Bible, I noticed a man out of the corner of my eye staring at our table. He was wearing beat-up Nike flip-flops, white knee-high socks, track pants with a stain on the knee, a crumpled pull-over, and red see-through glasses. His thinning hair was pulled back behind his ears and his face looked rugged and worn. It was obvious he was listening to our conversation, and as soon as I turned my head to get a good look at him, he immediately jerked his face toward his shoes.
Kind of sketched out, I continued to talk to my friends about how I planned to follow Jesus. "I don't exactly know what my future holds, but I know who holds my future and..." Again, the guy was staring right at us, this time standing a little closer. I turned my head around to look at him once more, and like before - he jerked his head toward his shoes.
"So, yeah, as I was saying, I'm thinking about applying to this program where I serve kids in Guatemala, I think it'd be a really cool..." And again, he was staring, this time standing just an arms length away. ..."experience," I finished, turning my head again to see what the guys deal was. This time, he didn't look to the ground. Instead, he continued to look straight at me, and I caught a glimpse of his eyes. They weren't normal eyes, like mine or yours; there was something so heart-wrenchingly lonesome about them I immediately forgot how weird it was he kept inching toward us. His eyes, a deep blue color, housed obvious emptiness I can't exactly put into words. It was unlike anyone elses eyes I had ever seen before. He gave me a crooked smile, and I couldn't help but smile back.
Hearing his name, a muffled name I didn't catch, he turned around, grabbed his venti, and eased out of the coffee shop. Shaking my head a bit, my friends could tell I was a bit flustered. "You know who that was, right?" one of them asked.
Lonebehold, the man was infact Bruce Jenner, former Olympian and Kardashian enthusiast. At that point, a little more than a year ago, there was no rumor about his transition as a transgender. But I knew, seeing him those short few minutes, something was not right. Not right at all.
At the moment, I didn't quite know why he was listening so intently on my conversation. I didn't understand why on Earth Bruce Jenner, of all people, would care to listen to my conversation at a coffee shop. But looking in retrospect, I think I have a bit of a clue.
I think it's fairly reasonable to say Bruce was somewhat interested in what I had to say because, frankly, not many people talk about Jesus in coffee shops in Malibu. It's a little peculiar; it's a little different. And maybe it's exactly what someone like him wanted to see. Now, I'm not saying he was looking for Jesus (although I firmly believe we all are in some regard) but what I'm saying is he was looking for someone going against the grain; someone not afraid to do something different; to stand up for one's beliefs without worrying what others would think.
I am by no means taking a side on the whole Caitlyn Jenner transformation. Before taking a required Gender class in college I would have been extremely judgemental over the circumstance, but our class studied example after example of transgender people who were bullied to the point of death, either by others or by their own hand. The whole Caitlyn Jenner thing is definitely shocking, that's for darn sure, but the last thing we should do with the situation is make fun of the transgender community.
Let's look at Jesus. Did He come down to Earth making fun of people who were different or lost or confused? Just the opposite. Those were the people Jesus helped the most. And how exactly did He help them? Through love. Through meals. Though listening. Through forgiveness. Through prayer.
That said, the Caitlyn Jenner phenomena is a little hard to take in for some. But I urge you, like Jesus, to hold in your rude remarks, learn to love, and never underestimate the power of bold faith - you never know who might be listening.
And dare I say - Caitlyn is not at complete peace like many claim she is. Sure, she may be dressing differently and talking differently. She may have changed her name and traded her nike's for heels. But there is nothing that can calm a yearning heart like knowing the God of the universe loves you. There's nothing as comforting as walking with Jesus. Nothing.
