Yo no pertenezco
Leopoldo, todas las mañanas, se paraba en la parada del ómnibus, frente al hospital central; y frente a todos los que se encontrarán allí, anunciaba a gran voz: «A nuestro mundo le queda poco tiempo, arrepiéntete de tus pecados, pide a Dios que te perdone. La venida del Señor está cerca, la puerta está abierta y el camino es angosto, pero la recompensa es grande, vale la pena apostar por la vida eterna.» Ese, más menos, era su mensaje diario.
Pero ¿quién iba a escuchar a aquel pobre señor con vestiduras harapientas, pelo largo, piel mugrienta? Nadie tomaba en cuenta las palabras de aquel hombre. Pero a él, no le importaba que se hicieran los sordos, él continuaba repitiendo, una y otra vez, las mismas palabras. Otras veces sus discursos eran sobre el Apocalipsis, o sobre el fin del mundo, o sobre el rapto de los cristianos. Pero igualmente, nadie hacía caso a sus advertencias.
Sin embargo, esto no lo hacía renunciar a su misión, sino, que diariamente llegaba bien temprano a la parada, desde aproximadamente las cinco de la mañana y se iba sobre las siete de la noche. Si alguien le pregunta por qué madrugaba y se iba tan tarde, decía que esa era su misión, anunciar la venida del Señor, decir que Cristo volvería por su iglesia y prevenir a las personas para que se arrepientan de sus pecados.
Estaba consciente de que muchas personas lo ignoraban, o no escuchaban su mensaje; pero otros, aunque no lo reconocían públicamente, en su interior, se sentirían inquietados y buscarían la forma de conocer más de la verdad, es decir, de Cristo. Esta era su misión mientras viviera en la tierra, debía anunciar el mensaje de salvación a toda persona, quisiera escucharle o no.
Lamentablemente, para Leopoldo, algunas veces, había quienes le vituperaba y ofendían, principalmente jóvenes o adolescentes, pero otras veces, para su dicha, había quienes le brindaban algún alimento o algún pomo de agua, quizás por lástima o comparación. Aunque, por lo general, él no aceptaba los regalos, ya que las personas que lo hacían se burlaban de él, diciendo: «Toma, loco infeliz, come si quieres salvarte, amanecer muerto cualquier día de estos.»
En aquella parada, no solo tomaban el ómnibus las personas que venían al hospital, sino también, vecinos cercanos a esta parada. Entre esos vecinos estaban dos adolescentes que diariamente accedían a la parada para tomar el ómnibus escolar, que los recogían allí. Una de esas mañanas, cuando fueron a tomar el ómnibus, comenzaron a decir: «Por Dios de dónde habrá salido este loco, no tendremos un día de descanso, ya nos tiene harto.»
Escuchándolo, Leopoldo, con voz pausada, pero en voz alta, como siempre lo hacía, comenzó a decir: «Yo no pertenezco a este mundo, he sido enviado por Dios para anunciarles las virtudes de aquel que me llamó de las tinieblas a su luz admirable, y por eso estoy en el compromiso, de compartir con ustedes ese mensaje.» Luego prosiguió hablando a la multitud que allí estaban: «Arrepiéntanse de su manera de vivir, aún hay tiempo. El día ni la hora de la venida del Señor, nadie lo sabe. Él vendrá como ladrón en la noche, eso significa que pudiera venir en este instante, o pudiera venir dentro de unos minutos, dentro de unas horas, unos días, o unos años; no sé cuándo será, solo sé, que su venida está cerca.»
Hizo una pausa y continuó: «Miren las señales, el mundo está lleno de guerras, enfermedades, epidemias, miren el incremento de fenómenos naturales, pero hay algo aún peor que está afectando todo el mundo, algo que la Biblia advierte sucederá en los últimos días, y es que el amor de los seres humanos se enfriará. Estas son claras señales de la venida del Señor. Arrepiéntanse y, como yo, podrán ir a la patria celestial de donde pertenezco. Yo no pertenezco a este mundo, pertenezco al cielo y ustedes también pueden pertenecer allí.»
Los jóvenes, riéndose, comenzaron a burlarse de él y del Señor, diciéndole: «Viejo loco, no sabes ni lo que dices, hablas tanta tontería que solo una mente enferma puede pensar. Lo que tienes que hacer es ir a bañarte, limpiarte la ropa, y tal vez así, quizás alguien te puede escuchar. O mejor aún, no regreses nunca más, que con tu locura lo que haces es atormentar a todos aquí.» Sin embargo, una vez más, el señor Leopoldo respondió a aquellas ofensas con mansedumbre, aunque en voz alta, pues era su manera de hablar, diciendo: «Señor, no le tomes en cuenta los que ellos dicen, no saben lo que hablan, te pido, Señor, que les des la oportunidad de que te conozcan y se conviertan en hijos y seguidores tuyos"
Aunque, a decir verdad, Leopoldo aparentaba estar loco, y con claridad era lo que reflejaba su porte y aspecto, y sumado a eso, Leopoldo siempre hablaba en alta voz, como gritando a una multitud, no importándole que en la parada del ómnibus hubiera una o dos personas; cosa que hacía, pues se emocionaba mucho al hablar en nombre de Jesús. Aun así, con su desajuste en la cabeza, él era mucho más educado que aquellos jóvenes, que estando en edad escolar y en plena formación educativa, no eran capases de tolerar con paciencia las palabras de aquel señor, que intentaba a voz en cuello, advertirles de lo que la Biblia previene le espera al mundo al final de los tiempos. O en caso de no desear escucharle, pues no poseen la paciencia y tolerancia de un adulto, simplemente deberían ignorarlo y no ofenderlo o intentar abochórnalo. Algo que, junto a otros malos hábitos, se está enraizando en la cultura juvenil de hoy día.
English version
i don't belong
Leopoldo, every morning, would stand at the bus stop, in front of the central hospital; and in front of all those who would be there, he would announce in a loud voice: "Our world has little time left, repent of your sins, ask God to forgive you. The coming of the Lord is near, the door is open and the way is narrow, but the reward is great, it is worth betting on eternal life." That, more or less, was his daily message.
But who was going to listen to that poor gentleman with ragged clothes, long hair, grimy skin? No one heeded the man's words. But he didn't care if they turned a deaf ear, he kept repeating, over and over again, the same words. At other times his speeches were about the Apocalypse, or the end of the world, or the rapture of the Christians. But still, no one heeded his warnings.
However, this did not make him give up his mission, but rather, he arrived at the bus stop very early in the morning, starting at about five o'clock in the morning and left at about seven o'clock at night. If someone asked him why he got up early and left so late, he would say that this was his mission, to announce the coming of the Lord, to say that Christ would return for his church and to warn people to repent of their sins.
He was aware that many people ignored him, or did not listen to his message; but others, although they did not recognize him publicly, inside, would feel disturbed and would seek the way to know more of the truth, that is, of Christ. This was his mission while he lived on earth, he had to announce the message of salvation to every person, whether they wanted to listen to him or not.
Unfortunately, for Leopoldo, sometimes, there were those who would revile and offend him, mainly young people or teenagers, but other times, to his joy, there were those who would give him some food or a knob of water, perhaps out of pity or comparison. Although, in general, he did not accept the gifts, since the people who did so would mock him, saying, "Here, you crazy wretch, eat if you want to save yourself, you'll wake up dead any day now."
At that stop, not only people coming to the hospital took the bus, but also neighbors near this stop. Among those neighbors were two teenagers who went to the bus stop every day to take the school bus, which picked them up there. One of those mornings, when they went to take the bus, they began to say: "For God's sake, where did this madman come from, we won't have a day of rest, we've had enough of him."
Listening to him, Leopoldo, in a slow voice, but loudly, as he always did, began to say, "I don't belong to this world, I have been sent by God to announce to you the virtues of him who called me out of darkness into his admirable light, and that is why I am in the commitment, to share with you that message." He then went on to speak to the crowd there, "Repent of your way of life, there is still time. The day nor the hour of the Lord's coming, no one knows. He will come as a thief in the night, that means he could come at this instant, or he could come in a few minutes, in a few hours, in a few hours, a few days, or a few years; I do not know when it will be, I only know, that his coming is near."
He paused and continued, "Look at the signs, the world is full of wars, diseases, epidemics, look at the increase of natural phenomena, but there is something even worse that is affecting the whole world, something that the Bible warns will happen in the last days, and that is that the love of human beings will grow cold. These are clear signs of the coming of the Lord. Repent and, like me, you will be able to go to the heavenly homeland where I belong. I don't belong to this world, I belong to heaven and you too can belong there."
The young men, laughing, began to mock him and the Lord, saying to him, "You old fool, you don't even know what you're talking about, you talk so much nonsense that only a sick mind can think. What you have to do is to go and take a bath, clean your clothes, and maybe then, maybe someone will listen to you. Or better yet, don't ever come back, that with your insanity what you do is torment everyone here." However, once again, Mr. Leopoldo responded to those offenses with meekness, although in a loud voice, for it was his way of speaking, saying, "Lord, do not take into account what they say, they do not know what they are talking about, I ask you, Lord, give them the opportunity to get to know you and become your children and followers."
Although, to tell the truth, Leopoldo seemed to be crazy, and that was clearly reflected in his demeanor and appearance, and added to that, Leopoldo always spoke in a loud voice, as if shouting to a crowd, not caring if there were one or two people at the bus stop; which he did, because he was very excited to speak in the name of Jesus. Even so, with his misalignment in his head, he was much more educated than those young people, who being of school age and in full educational formation, were not able to tolerate with patience the words of that gentleman, who tried loudly to warn them of what the Bible foresees awaits the world at the end of time. Or if they did not want to listen to him, because they did not have the patience and tolerance of an adult, they should simply ignore him and not offend him or try to abuse him. Something that, along with other bad habits, is taking root in today's youth culture.
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- Imagen creada en Leonardo Ai a petición del autor.
- Contenido original.
-Traducido con la ayuda de DeepL.
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- Image created in Leonardo Ai at the author's request.
- Original content.
-Translated with the help of DeepL.