It was a slow morning at the restaurant. There were only a few customers as the Rev. Roger Reed looked up from the Colts game to make a quick scan of the tables.

“I just don’t think anybody knows we’re open yet,” Reed said.

This was the first time Reed has opened his restaurant, Shake Rag Reed’s, on a Sunday.

Despite the low turnout, Reed is hopeful that the new hours will help to bolster sales that have suffered during the economic downturn.

“Sometimes it’s been real tough,” he said. “God gives to man, and he prospers, but the devil can prosper, too.”

Reed keeps up hope — and the restaurant — with his faith in people and his faith in doing what is right.

“I am a non-denominational minister of God,” Reed said. “I don’t put up walls between people.”

Back in the kitchen, Reed tossed a cake in the oven, fried up some bacon and let two servers go home for the day. Between orders, he joked with the remaining server about starting a church in the restaurant during the new Sunday hours.

“We could get all types of people,” he said. “It doesn’t matter who you are.”

As three o’clock rolled around, Reed greeted a party of customers with a friendly blessing.

“You can impress people,” he said. “But God you got to please by doing all you can do to be faithful to him.”

For Reed, faithfulness means doing exactly what he is doing: being an open, friendly face in the community — all while serving up a mean plate of eggs.

“A Thousand Words” is a weekly photo essay that shares untold stories on the edges of campus.