REFLECTIONS

Remembering Bora

The day it went to others I mailed Bora a copy of Reflections written about him. When I last saw him, a broad smile filled his face followed by a barrage of “thank you.” His machinegun repetition left me feeling a bit embarrassed. But you just never know what to expect.

A few weeks later I learned of Bora’s unexpected death. It felt too soon to lose his mastery. The wonders he could do with a suit of clothes were left for someone else to do—someone with a passion to make people feel good about themselves as Bora did.

Bora never fit me for a suit of clothes. So, I didn’t personally experience the skill God blessed him with. But he gave me something even more special—his story. He told me how he came to this country unable to speak the language. He told me how he learned his trade from his father, also a skilled tailor. As he spoke, his eyes became wet with passion. “I make people feel good about themselves,” he explained. “I like to see people happy. I like to reach into the feelings of each customer as they see themselves in my final work. Their smile is all I need.”

When he recounted his story, Bora could not have imagined how his story would reach beyond the world he lived in daily. He could not have imagined how it would touch lives he would never see and in ways he could never dream. He could never have dreamed that an ordinary tailor could have a ministry to inspire others to excel in the worlds in which they live. Bora practiced his trade “to make people feel good about themselves.”

Because he defined an ordinary job in an extraordinary way, Bora made people feel different and better. He had no idea when death would come; none of us do. That’s why we should strive to live today in ways that allow Jesus to reveal himself through our lives. That’s our role in making other lives different and better. And if we do, the difference reaches further than our eyes can see, or our minds imagine.

That day Bora had no idea how he touched my life. And he certainly didn’t know he might also be touching yours. From his story we learn how our stories too touch those around us. And for that lesson, we owe our Lord a debt of gratitude for allowing Bora’s life to touch ours.

You are the light of the world,

Richard +

www.reflectingthesavior.org

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