Once upon a time!

Once upon a time there was a 53 year old librarian minding her own business in the school library just cataloging books – titles, such as, Illegal Immigration, Barcelona, Daddy Yankee, Extreme Weather, Philosophy, Dealing with PMS, and more.

As the librarian was deep in thought cataloging, a student strolls in and plops down in a chair. He tells the librarian that the counselor sent him to the library to sit and wait for her to come and get him.

So, he sits… then he leaves to chat with a girl…then he comes back and sits…then he leaves to use the restroom…then comes back and sits…then his phone rings - he answers it, tells his cousin he will call him back and he continues to sit some more.

Finally, the librarian asks him if he is sure someone was really planning to get him. He says, “I hope so Miss. I really need to talk to someone. I just found out my girlfriend has been cheating on me, my mother doesn’t have a job, I don’t have a job. You see, I was just working seasonal work over Christmas, my mother can’t pay the bills, and my brother is having a really bad time in prison.” The librarian hopes a counselor shows up soon.

No such luck.

The librarian starts talking to this 18 year old hispanic male. She asks him how old his brother is and why he is in prison. He says, “Miss, he is 27. He is in prison for being an accomplice to murder. You see, he was with one of his friends driving around SE Houston. They were wasted, and some guy cut them off. They followed the guy. His friend pulls out a gun and she shot the guy dead. It was uh, like a drive by shooting. But Miss, my brother didn’t do nothing, but he got 20 years, and he is having a hard time in prison. That is why I need to talk to the counselor.”

So, as the librarian pondered what to do, she remembered what her Bible study had been saying – “Watch to see where God is working and join Him.” Hmm, this seemed like an opportunity to join God. “But how, she wondered.” But, all of a sudden all that came out of her mouth was “Have you ever heard of Rudyard Kipling?” “Sure,” he replied. “Hmm, uh, uh, well, have you ever heard of the poem, “If”? He replied by shaking his head negatively.

“God – are you kidding me, are You using Rudyard Kipling to speak to this kid through me?” she gasped in thought. “Okay, Lord, use whatever you want to…I will go along.” So, she went straight to the Internet, Googled “If” by Rudyard Kipling, and on the first hit she found the poem “If.” She printed it off, and gave it to the student to read. He smirked, and told the librarian that he was a pretty good reader. He read it carefully. Then, he asked her for a piece of paper and pen. He wanted to copy the poem freehand so he could send the poem to his brother. The librarian offered to print out another one for the student, but he told her that in prison people aren’t allowed to receive copied papers. The librarian quickly figured out that prisoners can’t get mail on printed paper because the ink is sometimes used to sneak drugs to prisoners.

So as the librarian acted like she was going back to her cataloging work, the student sat at the old brown library table and copied the entire “If” poem on the yellow tablet the she gave him. She wondered how God would have used her that day if her father hadn’t ever shared that poem with her a long time ago.

The counselor never came to talk to the student. The bell rang and the student got up from his chair and strolled reflectively through the security gate to go to his next class.

As the arm of the gate turned, he cocked his head back to see the librarian. As, his lips curled upward, he nodded and said “Miss, I will come back and talk to you again sometime! Okay?”