Some of the challenges of the neighborhood around our church are lived out loud for all to see - homelessness, human trafficking, opioid use - sometimes in deadly combination.
One Sunday afternoon, right before an organ concert, a person unknown to us entered the building and curled up on the landing to the office at the top of the stairs, barely responsive.
You couldn't get to the concert without witnessing them.
Drug overdose? Intoxicated? Diabetic? Other medical emergency? Dangerous? Harmless?
So often, driving away or crossing the street or avoiding a neighborhood is the first option. The need is complex and overwhelming.
Not that day. This person literally blocks my path.
Not that day. This person literally blocks my path.
What do we do? Call 911? Would that make things better or worse? If not, whom?
In the aftermath of the death of George Floyd, as our conversation has turned to public safety including the appropriate use and heavy-handed misuse of the police, I keep thinking about this single unexpected, unavoidable guest.
What would you do? We have routinely turned to our emergency responders as a one-size-fits-all solution, yet we know that policing is not applied equally to all. With tragic consequences.
Fortunately, we know people who know people. Organizations in our community like Street Angels, Inc., Inner Beauty and Sisters South respond with compassion to people who are pushed to the edges of our society and then often pushed over the edge when they can't get it together fast enough or well enough or often enough. Whenever possible, basic needs are met, connections are made, resources are found. They offer hope and, in some situations, would be a wise first call.
Within the unsettledness of this time, there are opportunities to participate in hard conversations about who we are called to be as the church, as communities, as a country, as neighbors, as human beings. The issues we face are complex and the solutions are not simple.
It's far easier to walk away or change the topic or point fingers or put down the mirror we've been forced to gaze into. Reshaping a future that is good for all begins with examining ourselves - listening, learning, confessing, growing, pruning, falling, getting up, lamenting, demanding, praying, forgiving, loving.
In the aftermath of the death of George Floyd, as our conversation has turned to public safety including the appropriate use and heavy-handed misuse of the police, I keep thinking about this single unexpected, unavoidable guest.
What would you do? We have routinely turned to our emergency responders as a one-size-fits-all solution, yet we know that policing is not applied equally to all. With tragic consequences.
Fortunately, we know people who know people. Organizations in our community like Street Angels, Inc., Inner Beauty and Sisters South respond with compassion to people who are pushed to the edges of our society and then often pushed over the edge when they can't get it together fast enough or well enough or often enough. Whenever possible, basic needs are met, connections are made, resources are found. They offer hope and, in some situations, would be a wise first call.
Within the unsettledness of this time, there are opportunities to participate in hard conversations about who we are called to be as the church, as communities, as a country, as neighbors, as human beings. The issues we face are complex and the solutions are not simple.
It's far easier to walk away or change the topic or point fingers or put down the mirror we've been forced to gaze into. Reshaping a future that is good for all begins with examining ourselves - listening, learning, confessing, growing, pruning, falling, getting up, lamenting, demanding, praying, forgiving, loving.
Let's not turn away.
Holy God,
Help us to see our neighbor as your own beloved,
created in your image, worthy of love and compassion.
Help us to see ourselves as your own beloved,
created in your image, worthy of love and compassion.
We call upon you. We need your help.
Help us to see our neighbor as your own beloved,
created in your image, worthy of love and compassion.
Help us to see ourselves as your own beloved,
created in your image, worthy of love and compassion.
You call upon us. You equip and send us.
Amen.
Give us courage and strength for the hard, holy work ahead.
Amen.
