Help the Homeless!

"Streetwise, get your Streetwise here! It's got my story in it, but if you don't like it you can tack it on the wall and throw darts at it."

That's the pitch I heard recently one afternoon I was walked through my neighborhood. The Streetwise vendor, Gregg Cole, was assuming he regular post outside Potbelly Sandwiches. After hearing his remark, I decided to turn around, get off my bike and have a word with him.

I said, "That's great that your story is in Streetwise, but don't say the part about 'throwing darts at it if you don't like it." And Gregg said, "People think it's funny."

Pausing, I added, "Your story is important. Don't deflate it. Let them decide if they like it after they read it. By adding your comment about 'throwing darts' at the story, you're creating doubt in their minds whether the story is any good, and whether they should waste their time buying your magazine."

"I see what you mean," Gregg said. "I'll try it without that line and see what happens. Thanks. Here, let me give you a free copy of the magazine. Read it and tell me what you think."

"Thanks Gregg, have a great day. God bless you!"

REFLECTION

This story reinforces for me the saddest part of homelessness: the loss of a person's dignity. On the one hand this man is being vulnerable on the street, selling his story to make a living and stay off the streets, and on the other hand he has doubts about whether his story is any good. Why would someone want to buy or hear my story? I'm homeless. I have little value to society. Some people don't even see me. I have no status, few belongings, and call myself homeless, rather than "Gregg."

I've never been homeless before, and I can only imagine how humiliating the experience is. I think we need to challenge ourselves each day when we see a homeless man or women and look them in the eye and ask them their name. They deserve to be noticed, treated with dignity, and to receive our daily prayers. Give them money when you can, but take a moment to engage them in a short conversation and let them know they are beloved children of God who deserve our attention.

The Hope for Miracles and Resurrection

Two stories in the news struck me this week. One of a hiker lost in the wilderness of Colorado and the other of the 33 Chilean miners rescued after being trapped underground for two months. One was lost, and the others were found.

On the one hand, you could say that these two stories are metaphorical, but they are the actual stories of actual people's lives. People who were trapped, lost, and powerless to find their way home. They had to depend on someone else's help and the grace of God to find their way home.

The whereabouts of hiker, James Nelson, is still unknown as rescue workers called off a four day search for him in the Holy Cross Wilderness near Vail Colorado. Nelson was an experienced hiker, hiking alone along 25-mile stretch of wilderness over 5 days. No one has heard from him since October 3rd and no trace was found of him on the nearby trails.

At the conclusion of the search for Nelson, his family, friends and fiancé stopped to look and reflect while on the deck at Vail's Adventure Ridge Tuesday, which overlooks the Holy Cross Wilderness where Nelson disappeared. You can only imagine the sense of loss and grief they must have felt in saying goodbye.

In contrast, the 33 miners were trapped underground, yet in community. For two months friends and family were able to shuttle notes back and forth to the miners, but there was no guarantee that the miners would be rescued and brought back alive. Where did they find their hope? I'm not sure I could have lived underground for two months.

I am told that on the backs of their jackets they had written a quote from Psalm 95:4, "In whose hand are the depths of the earth." They trusted that they were in the safety of God's hands despite their dire circumstances. What amazing faith!

Witnessing these events for some reason made me think of Luke 16:30, when Lazarus says to father Abraham, "If someone from the dead goes to them (my brothers), they will repent." What Lazarus means in this passage, I think, is that if someone who is resurrected from the dead bears witness to his five brothers, then they will repent and will not also be tormented in Hell as he is.

We may not all ever spend 2 months in a mine shaft, but we all have times when we are trapped in dark, desert-like situations where we can't see a way out. Christ is our hope. We know he has walked this road before us and has been resurrected so we hope in faith for that same resurrection.

The common thread it seems in the story of the 33 miners and of James Nelson is that they were all faithful Christians in desperate circumstances. As such, we can infer that their faith sustained them in their trails, but we can only imagine the anguish they felt at the time.

I pray in gratitude for the resurrection and new life that the miners and their families have received as a result of this experience. I pray that there lives and their faith can be a witness to others. And I pray James and his family that they are able to see God's guiding hand in their apparent loss. Amen.