TWO-PHONE
JOE

Topics: Busyness; Holiness; Lifestyle; Outreach; Peace; Prayer; Pressure; Seekers; Stress; Weariness

References: Psalm 46:10; Matthew 11:28–30; 13:22; Luke 10:38–42; Ephesians 6:18

I called him Two-Phone Joe. The first time I met him, I was sitting at an outdoor table at my favorite coffee spot. He came out, cell phone pressed between shoulder and ear, talking a blue streak. He had a cup of coffee in one hand, a Coke in the other, and another phone on his belt. When he put his cup down to hang up, I said, “Man, you’ve got to relax a little!” And that’s how my friendship got started with one of the most hyper guys I’ve ever known.

Joe and I talked often. Actually, Joe ranted and raved, and I mostly listened. Once I was sitting at an inside table and he came in, assaulting his phone as usual. He talked, loud and angry, the whole time he ordered, and then, after he sat down, he kept arguing for the whole coffee shop to hear. When he finally got off the phone, I said, “Joe, come here.”

“What?” he barked guardedly.

“Sit down here,” I repeated.

“Why?” he asked, but he sat down.

“Joe, I don’t know if anyone has ever done this for you before, but I am going to pray for you right now.” Joe’s eyes got big, and he looked at me like I was crazy. Before he could run, I just put my hand on his arm and quietly prayed for a few seconds, asking God to quiet Joe and to give him peace.

“Thank you,” Joe said softly, and I wondered if that might have been the first holy moment in Joe’s entire tumultuous life.

—Lee Eclov, “Christ in a Coffee Shop,” Trinity Magazine (Spring 2006)