Let me tell you about "Jon"

It may have been one of the more gratifying encounters I have experienced. Sitting in the back of the room with arms folded and heart seemingly removed sat a gray-haired gentleman no one seemed to know.
While many men were visibly touched by the stirring movie clips of "The Kid","Brave Heart", and "Good Will Hunting"... as well as the moving talks of men sharing their hearts vulnerably, "Jon" - as I will call him - sat detached, unmoved and noticeably uncomfortable. It was obvious that this was not the typical crowd he hung with on a Friday night.
In the midst of a profound night of encouragement for most men gathered, Jon walked out. It seemed to be more than he could take, or wanted to take in anyway. After all, he was the one obviously calloused man that no one seemed to know anything about. "Did he go home?" It appeared he did.
Then came morning: Jon approached a few of us - secondary players on this retreat weekend - and asked if we could meet. "Of Course". This profound meeting took place in room 804 at this remote retreat sight mid Saturday morning.
Immediately, the Lord began to speak and touch on some of the more hidden places in Jon's heart. He seemed uncomfortable, but surprisingly he remained.
"Who are you here with?" The question was presented. "No one!" Jon offered. "My ex-wife saw the web sight and told me to come!" That in itself was amazing. "You drove here by yourself not knowing anyone?" He nodded. What courage! "I almost left a few times... this is my last chance... I have gone through several marriages, several children, and this is my last chance... I was leaving, but I decided to give it one last try..." Wow! This meeting was his last ditch effort to reach out for help - something he had a tough time doing.
Jon looks like a cross between John Wayne, Clint Eastwood, and "Curly" from the movie "City Slickers". If you can picture any of them, you can see that Jon is a very rugged, burly, hardened hunk of a man - a western cowboy sort of guy - country strong and well traveled; visibly worn out from his 60+ years of life! It is obvious he has some stories to tell, and much pain and shame hidden beneath his massive frame.
It is not often that I feel intimidated, but I must admit there was something about Jon that was intimidating. His hardened exterior seemed impossible to penetrate. Yet, he was here for some reason he was not yet ready to reveal.
It didn't seem to matter what was said, Jon didn't seem to budge. Nothing seemed to touch him. Sensing something from the Lord, the question was posed, "Did anything in the movie clip from "Good Will Hunting" speak to you?" - earlier we were all shown the scene where the counselor revealed the pictures where Will was bruised and beaten by his father. A pointed question was launched, "Did you choose the wrench?" Jon just shrugged it off just like he had been doing. "No." He oozed venomously."The Shotgun!" Now we were getting somewhere. "Your father beat you with a Shotgun?" He looked up with some of the angriest eyes I have seen, "On a good day!" Intimidation crept in once again. The other two men in the room felt it as well.
Following an awkward pause, Jon managed to bark out some of the darkest anger heard, "You F_ _ _ing prick!!!" he directed toward his father. Years of pinned up anger, resentment, bitterness, hatred... crept to the surface. His crusty eyes welled up with tears. This hardened cowboy looked up at me and all I could see was a wounded little boy in a massive man's body, crying out for the help he had never before known how to ask for.
The rest of the story began to unravel. "Have you related to any of the movie clips at all?" He smiled wryly, "The only movie I relate to is "Silence of The Lambs" and I don't think it would go over real well if I told everyone I related to the bad guy!" He meant it. "I have lived a F _ _ _ ed up life! I ruined many people..."
His father left when Jon was two, and the few times he came back into the picture he brought a severe beating with him... By the time Jon was twelve, he had had enough. His dad came around again, this time the many years of pinned up anger had come to a boiling point... "What came of it?" I dared to ask. He stood up face to face with me and grabbed at his shirt and pulled it up. "This!" He pointed to the large scar on his stomach. When he was twelve, he was stabbed with a knife!
Instead of the love he needed from his father, he received deep, painful rejection. He has a scar to show for it.
Sometime later in his twelfth year, Jon gave his life to the Lord, but as he said, "family called me chicken sh_ _! So I ran..." I asked the obvious, "When did you come back to the Lord?" Jon looked at me as if I was stupid for asking, then just shook his head from side to side. "I hadn't!"
When it was all said and done, Jon was willing to forgive his father, forgive his mother, and forgive himself. A miracle within itself!
Following what seemed like a ten-minute hug, where I felt my guts were going to be squeezed out by his massive, loving embrace, Jon left a new man!
A few minutes after this powerful encounter had ended, Jon went up to two or three people immediately, and with a massive smile, shook there hand and said, "Hi, my name is Jon!" It said so much. An hour earlier, no one seemed to even know who Jon was, and Jon had not said a word to anyone for two days. Now free of shame, guilt, anger, bitterness and resentment toward mankind, Jon was able to proudly declare with his head held high, "I am Jon!"
This, my friend, is what Christ died for! This is what the love of God does!
Believe in Miracles! Jon now does!
Enjoy the Journey!
Bart

A day or two after the gathering was over, "Jon" sent this poem to the men involved in the weekend. As he said, "...the following thoughts came to me this morning... it helped me sort through and I hope you will find some comfort in it as well.":

"We are men, brought together
to heal a violence, done upon us,
flesh and spirit, soul and mind's
by parents, keepers, trusted kind.
That, which learned at care-less knee
we've now passed on the legacy,
of agony, delivered by mother's, father's,
we bestowed upon our sons and daughters.
Cries God 'Enough.,I'll set you free.
Take a painful reach and trust in Me
There are none so broken, none so cold
That I'll forsake you to the Enemy's hold.
It's not easy, I'll lead you through it,
It'll make no sense, but you must do it
Forgive them all."
He knows you must
Only then will you know
they were hurt like us.
A wounded link in hatred's chain
Set upon us, to destroy again and again.
"Break the link, and trust in Me
it's a dangerous journey
I'll set you free.
You are my child, My man, My warrior
From hatred's chains, I'll you deliver."

He wrote in a letter to me later in the day:
"I now have one of the rarest of all gifts... Hope."

That says it all!
Enjoy The Journey! And as you do, throw up a prayer for "Jon" - God knows his real name!
Blessings,
Bart