Jan. 24, 2008It is -10 degrees outside with a wind chill of -25 (that's the feel-like temperature for you in the South). Today I wore long underwear, pants, turtleneck sweater, 2 pairs of socks, warm hiking boots, a hooded fleece sweatshirt, scarf, long wool dress coat, Turtle Fur ski headband, and Polar Tec mittens. All this for my 2-1/2 block walk to the bus stop. Hopefully the bus would be on time and I'd have less than a 5 minute wait. I was cold anyway.
How comfortable are you? What's the indoor feel-like temperature where you are?
I saw my 1st homeless people in Denver 20 some years ago. I was on the 1 hour-3-transfers bus ride to my job at a collection agency (I lasted less than 3 weeks!) The bus went across a bridge north of downtown, what was then the old rail yards and stock yards. It is now Coors Field, home of the Colorado Rockies. As the bus went across the bridge I looked down. There were 4 or 5 men hudd
led around a fire burning in a barrel.
How comfortable are you?
A few years ago some friends and I went on a street mission with our friend Della at Hope Ministries. It was mid September. After a brief tour of the kitchen, Rick told a little about the mission. Eggs are hard to come by at the mission and with fall approaching warm socks were needed. We rode in the back of the truck and dished out meals of macaroni and cheese, spaghetti, milk, bread, whatever we had and howe
ver long it lasted. I remember being at a tent camp near Gray's Lake. A prayer was always said before we left for the next stop. Two of the homeless argued over who would say the prayer. How Jesus must have chuckled. I remember one of the homeless women from the camp saying to a homeless man, "Jesus loves you." He replied, "Uh uh. No he don't." How sad he felt so worthless that no one can love him, not even Jesus. How Jesus must have wept.
How comfortable are you?
Two years ago I was in a God-forsaken-valley-of-a-job. I worked downtown and walked the skywalk between the company's 2 satellite offices. I was miserable as many of you know. One day a man that reminded me of Santa Claus with white hair and a beard walked by me in the skywalk. He smiled and said, "Hi." If ever I needed a smile--that day was it. A few weeks later he was outside one of the skywalk convenience stores. He told me the lottery was at $12 million. I laughed. A few weeks later I saw him again. It was then I realized he was homeless. The cans in the garbage bag was the tip off. I saw him many times when I worked downtown. I don't know his name--only that he gave me a gift on a day I needed one.
How comfortable are you?
Last spring Sue, Kathy, Trish, and I went along with Alan, Hope's Cookie Ministry director, to feed the homeless in Des Moines. Alan was a great guide around the city and we stopped at shelters,
ministries, and camps. He expertly warned us at one of the tent camps not to go in because of
the mean dogs. We could hear the dogs woofing it up at the edge of the trees. Dogs? No one told me there'd be dogs! Trish took the heart-felt photo at the top of this blog. Watch a short documentary of how the homeless live at Sue's You Tube video. Listen to their words of grace and need. See inside their hearts.
Sue loaned me a great book about being homeless--Under the Overpass: A Journey of Faith on the Streets of America by Mike Yankoski. I read it last year while in NY. The homeless there aren't as visible as you might think. Unless you have your eyes closed. My last day there I attended church that morning, bought some earrings at Macy's, and was on my way to Bryant Park for a hot dog. I saw the man sitting on the sidewalk with black garbage bags on his legs and newspapers braided around his arms. He desperately cried out, "Please help me." I know the warnings about giving money directly to the homeless. I walked past… The "least of these" scripture played in my brain. True New Yorkers always keep change on hand to give to the homeless. I could not walk away. I turned around, his hand still stretched out, his palm caked with dirt. Our eyes met. "Oh thank you, thank you, I'm so grateful," he said.
I was hungry and you gave me no meal,
I was thirsty and you gave me no drink,
I was homeless and you gave me no bed,
I was shivering and you gave me no clothes,
Sick and in prison, and you never visited.
…Master, what are you talking about? When did we ever see you hungry or thirsty or homeless or shivering or sick or in prison and didn't help?'
He will answer them, "I'm telling the solemn truth: Whenever you failed to do one of these things to someone who was being overlooked or ignored, that was me--you failed to do it to me." Matthew 25:41-45 (The Message)
How comfortable are you? What's your feel-like temperature now?
Seize the J
(Photo copyrighted and courtesy of TLC Photography toma-lark@mchsi.com)
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