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After Christmas I had an exciting week. Toru and Tomio, whom my friend, Tommy Bamber, and I stayed with in Japan, were visiting England with a small school party. Tommy and I helped to entertain them. One day we all went to London to look at the Tower and Westminster Abbey. I had my first, and, probably, last Big Mac during the day. Life certainly begins at sixty! Before we returned home by train our party paid a visit to the Japanese Embassy; another new experience for me. We expected tea but we got a lecture from the Cultural Attaché on Anglo-Japanese relations through the years. I would have prefered tea. However I enjoyed the visit because the Cultural Attaché had a delightful assistant. I just sat and watched her! She was delicious -slender, gentle, gracious, beautiful and chic. I do not usually pay much attention to what women wear but even I could see that the lovely lady had style. I was fascinated by the small mole above her upper lip. When I said, "Goodbye," I was sad because I knew there was absolutely no way for me to get to know her better.
One of the most attractive features of the Prince of Peace, the matchless Morning Star, is his accessibility. Jesus said, whoever comes to me I will never drive away. John6v37. It is possible for just anyone to get to know Christ better. A few days later we all went to Cambridge. It was a glorious bright winter's day but a bit cold for a tour in an open topped bus. However, that was what was arranged and that is what we did. After a walk through the Botanical Gardens and a bit of brass rubbing at the Perse School everybody went shopping. Well actually Tommy and I sat drinking coffee in Waterstones whilst Tomio and Toru tried to find a simple book on the history of England to take home. They couldn't find one! As Tommy and I relaxed over our coffee for some reason or another Germane Greer's name cropped up. Tommy said, "She's done a lot for women." I replied, "I don't think so. I hate feminism and all its works. She's done more harm than good. Christianity teaches that in marriage men and women are equal but different. They have different but complimentary roles...." Tommy had heard all this before and gave his customary snort of disgust. Suddenly the lady sitting next to us turned round and said to me, "I agree with you." I don't know who was more surprised - Tommy or me. Tommy nearly fell off his chair. "Nobody agrees with him," he said. The black lady then addressed Tommy, "You will never be truly at peace until God is at the centre of your life. I was like you once; I didn't want anything to do with God. When my sister was converted I was angry. I told myself that I would never believe in God. However one day I was walking up the stairs in my house - on the bottom step I was resisting God but by the time I reached the top step I believed. It changed my life. I would never go back to that life without God. One day you will believe in God, I know you will." At this juncture Tommy Bamber thought he would get himself another cup of coffee. The lady then spoke to me, "You pray for him. He will become a Christian if you pray for him. I have been sitting here waiting for someone to speak to about God. I have been praying for someone to speak to about God." She got up, smiled at me, and left. When Tommy returned with his coffee he looked at me and said, "Wasn't she a nice lady?" And she was. She witnessed directly and with passion but she was intelligent, articulate, cultured and charming. She was very charming. That lady taught me a lesson. She was sitting in a bookshop drinking coffee hoping to find someone to talk to about God. She was praying for an opportunity to witness. I wonder how often we do that? I never do. We read that when Paul and Barnabas were in Iconium that they spoke boldly for the Lord. Acts14v3. Western Christians have almost given up speaking boldly to unbelievers about the Lord. The black lady in Cambridge was an exception. I salute her.
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