I Found My Heart In San Francisco
I have a great appreciation for the song,
"I left my heart in San Francisco"*, and I have
a great understanding of why one would leave
his/her heart in such a beautiful and most
enchanting city.
Ocean Beach, Golden Gate Park,
and the Golden Gate Bridge. Hilly streets,
trolley cars, and Twin Peaks looking down on
Market Street. The list goes on. What's not to like?
But in spite of so much to like, after an 8-year stay,
I departed the city by the bay but did not leave my heart
there. In fact, it could better be said that I FOUND MY HEART
in San Francisco. In the Sunset, the Western Addition, and
the Mission Districts, I FOUND MY HEART. In Japan Town,
China Town, the financial district, and the Tenderloin,
I FOUND MY HEART. At a funeral home through the words
of a 10-year-old boy, I FOUND MY HEART.
Moreover, while pastoring a small church on Post Street,
I encountered a homeless and hungry man who became, in my opinion, the greatest key to finding my heart. I was young,
ambitious, and most determined to change the world. I was laden with a deeply rooted arrogance that I never realized existed to such
a degree.
Day after day, Reuben came to the doors of the parsonage
requesting food and taking my attention away from what I thought was my mission. Looking back, before I met Reuben, I AM ASHAMED OF THE HEART I BROUGHT TO SAN FRANCISCO, but it was he who
enabled me to FIND MY HEART in San Francisco. I tell you, it was there
that God began to form a heart within me more like His own.
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