“The Biggest Mystery Known To Man”

Early this summer, I started noticing the writing on the bus wall. Frequently, there is a piece of white paper with typed scripture taped in the front of the bus, always in the same place. Its not a pamphlet, has no info about a church, no logos or anything like that, it’s just the quoted scripture and biblical reference. I always see it on the 14th Street bus, but I haven’t figured out if it’s only on one specific line (52, 53, 54). A few times, I’ve either caught the same bus going both north and south, with that same piece of paper posted on it, or copies have been hung on several buses.

Where it’s hung is interesting because it’s always on the small wall just behind the driver’s seat. So I’m sure it could easily go unnoticed by the driver throughout his or her whole shift, but is in plain view for the passengers no matter where they’re seated.

More interestingly, however, is that it’s always from Job or Isaiah. And it’s always very damning, Things like:

“Ah, sinful nation,
a people loaded with guilt,
a brood of evildoers,
children given to corruption!
They have forsaken the LORD;
they have spurned the Holy One of Israel
and turned their backs on him.”

I guess its disturbing because if I had one opportunity to share a message from the Bible, that’s NOT what I would choose, especially not for the people on the bus!!

I almost ripped it down a few times (I’m rarely that bold), and I thought of typing up my own Top Hits from the Bible that I would want people on the 54 to hear…things that I’d classify as “Good News,” but never did that either. I mean come on, there’s some good stuff in there and all we can come up with is calling people “evildoers”!! Tell us something we don’t know! Tell us something we can’t see; tell us there’s more to life than screwing up; more than the sad stories we see on the news every night and witness on the bus everyday!

Anyway, I finally got up the nerve to ask the bus driver who puts these up.

His reply: “That’s the biggest mystery known to man. We rip’em down every night and the next day someone puts’em back up.”

Let me know if you see any prophets on 14th Street taping scripture inside the buses, I have some questions to ask…