David Johnson

I was driving down I-30 today and I saw this man running beside the freeway carrying an American flag. He was celebrating Barack Obama’s inauguration. It was beautiful! He was so full of joy.

I was on the phone with my daughter, Kandice, and told her I had to stop, go give that guy a hug and see if he would let me take his picture. I know, a 6’4”, 250 pound, very white man from Texas isn’t supposed to stop on the freeway and hug a black man he has never met. But, it just seemed like the right thing to do. It seemed like what we had in common as humans and Americans was much greater than our differences. 

So, I went down an exit, turned around, looped back and crossed back over the freeway to see if I could find him again. I did. His name is David Johnson. I just stood beside a crowded freeway and gave him a hug and took his picture. We both cried a little. In very manly ways. :)

After I stopped, a guy pulled up behind me.  It was a videographer for channel 5 news. I felt a little awkward talking to the reporter dude. I felt like I was intruding on David’s moment.

Here are a couple more pics.

 

 

Comments

[Joan]

Way to go, Pastor Jess!
This is exactly why we love you
and are so proud to have you as
our Pastor. We all need to reach
out to one another one person at
a time with a smile, a hug, a kind word!

[Ben]

Man all I can do when I look at this is smile, and cry one of those manly tears.
there is a video on my latest blog post(benbozon.blogspot.com) that I think you would really enjoy.

love ya,

Ben

[Jess]

Thanks Ben. You are one fine human!
-jess