Preacher on the Train

This morning I was taking the train and rushing to school so that I wouldn't be late for my 8:30 am class on the 11th floor. As I was sitting down taking the A train and reading my book, I noticed a man speaking to the public. Little by little, I began to realize that he was talking about Jesus. When I started to hear him clearly, he was saying, " the people of New York should not complain about the snow or the cold weather, it's a blessing. It's God's work; therefore, we must appreciate it." As I was hearing him mention the weather and God, I began to examine the reactions of everyone on the same train car as the one I was in. I noticed that some people began to shake their heads and crack a little chuckle or smile. I also noticed some, if not the majority of people totally ignoring and not acknowledging the preacher due to their use of headphones. There were approximately two or three people who were actually acknowledging the preacher and nodding their heads. One thing I found interesting about what the preacher was saying was the structure of his preaches. He began with something we all can relate to, which is the cold weather and the snow. Then he began to try to drag people into believing Christianity by continue to speak about God, how God is the cause of the weather and why we should appreciate God and his doings. Although it is hard to get someone’s attention so that they could eventually convert to or further study Christianity, he did a really nice job getting the attention of the people on the train. That's another point I would like to point out, the train. This preacher could have easily stood at one spot expressing his knowledge and feelings, yet he decided to preach on the train. Why the train? Well maybe he had to get to some place and decided to spread the word of God. Maybe he realized that the best way to preach to a group of people would be in a setting that is somewhat like church, where people are sitting down, waiting for a specific time to get on and off the train to do what is needed to do. The reason this is similar to church is because people go into church at a specific time and leave at a specific time because they might have other things to do after the service is complete. This brought me to compare this event to an event that occurred in the novel “Tell it on the Mountain” by James Baldwin. The event in the novel is when John goes to Central Park and experiences what it’s like in the city and how much money plays a part people’s lives. These white people in the novel that John sees have substituted the bible for money. This is how most of the people on the train are. They do not read the bible nor are they interesting in what the bible has to offer because they are focusing on getting money to support and provide for their family’s. In the world we live in today, money is the main priority to most people, but not the man who was preaching on the train. This man is trying to bring people’s faith back and make God their main priority.

(I tried to get an audio or video, but the sound was bad due to the movement of the train, so I decided a picture would be the only option.)