The Newsstand Guy

In Harlem, a block from The Apollo, there was a newsstand. You would think Harlem would be the last place in the world where someone would want to work a newsstand. The newsstand was manned by a guy named Reeves. No one knew if Reeves was his last name or his first name. If you ask the black people who bought newspapers and magazines from Reeves, they thought Reeves was black. If you ask white people who bought newspapers and magazines from Reeves, they thought Reeves was white. The goofy thing is…no one knows for sure. Love has a way of making people blind to what is unimportant, like the color of one's skin.

Love does something else to people. Love also makes people do some pretty irrational things. Without knowing it, people patronized Reeve's newsstand because of love. Reeves would sell a newspaper or magazine to a customer, and then demand the customer tell Reeves about a good thing that had happened in the last day. Upon the telling, Reeves would laugh and smile and say, "Told yuh God's workin'!" Without the customer knowing it, Reeves demanded the customer count a blessing. People would stand in line in every kind of weather to buy something from Reeves. The rich, the poor, the famous, and infamous all lined up to tell Reeves. Many times people would come up to Reeves, share good news, give him some money, and walk away without picking up a newspaper or magazine.

Reeves showed people no matter who they are, they have blessings to count. No matter what a person's circumstances might be in life, Reeves brought each person to the reality of God. Each person touched by Reeves ended up being touched by God. Reeves gave others treasures by helping them count their blessings. By getting people to count their blessings Reeves gave people happiness. Reeve's customers received from Reeves the blessings of peace, calm, and a greater purpose to live each day. Reeves got people to do God's will which drew people closer to God. Even customers who had very little, came to see their cup was not half-empty, but overflowing with the invisible love of God...all because Reeves inspired them to give thanks.

Reeves had power. No one knew how much power because the power Reeves had was given out to others the instant someone started telling.

Reeves died in his newsstand. Customers were waiting when Reeves fainted and fell over. The police and emergency people were on the scene within minutes. What happened next has remained a mystery. In all the confusion of the moment, Reeves seems to have disappeared. Witnesses say Reeves body sort of faded away right before their eyes. People were bewildered and grieved. People started asking questions about Reeves but no answers were ever found.

A few months after Reeve's demise, Reeve's apartment was found about two blocks from where the stand used to be. The apartment was crammed, wall to wall and floor to ceiling with notebooks. In the notebooks Reeves had written a little note about someone receiving a blessing.

Reeves was a counter of blessings. Reeves was not just a counter of blessings. Reeves went even further and counted the blessings of others while asking others to count their blessings as well. What Reeves added to the world was so immense Reeves' contribution to the world was measurable only by God.

Psalms 100:4  Enter his gates with thanksgiving and his courts with praise; give thanks to him and praise his name. (NIV)

Although this message is fiction, the message reflects the Lord's truth. The message appeared in November,  2010, in the Virtual Church web site at http://www.shepherdscare.net