Punch to the Gut

Head First

I’ve decided to get back involved into the homeless community in Nashville. I took a break last year while I was going through my divorce and trying to find myself. A lot has changed since a year ago. Camps have been swept (closed down) with “No Trespassing. Property of the State” posted at camps I used to visit just a mere two years ago. My dear friend and mentor, Valegia, who I call Amazon (Most homeless people have nicknames. Amazon is no longer homeless) suggested that I visit Community Care Fellowship because they provide meals, showers, supplies, beard trims, haircuts and laundry service to the homeless daily. Amazon was homeless for years and is incredibly intelligent and wise. As Amazon and I walked up to the church everyone was wanting her time. She has such a huge heart for the poor and uniquely understands what they are going through and knows the resources that are available in Nashville to support them. As I walked in the room there were probably 60-70 people. Some with their heads down on the table, some conversing and some just savoring the brief moment of not being on the streets. I was flabbergasted. I wanted to meet all of them, but there were just too many people to meet everyone. I listened to stories and needs and where they were sleeping. I did my best to look into their eyes and learn their names. These are children of God that have been, for the most part, forgotten. They’re desperately looking for housing. Many don’t even have tents to sleep in, so they sleep on the steps of churches, on the sidewalks where the masses walk past or even over them without taking a second thought about them. For all intents and purposes they are invisible. My heart broke and ached for these brothers and sisters who most of us simply don’t know. Shane Claiborne says that it’s not that Christians don’t want to take care of poor, we just don’t know the poor. I put myself in this pool as well. While I am there I am getting texts, emails and phone calls from work and this created a very real dichotomy for me. It also clarified the question I was asking in my earlier post about the rich man and Jesus. I was looking into the eyes of Christ in these people who are considered outcasts. Amazon and I made a list of items that each person needed and I’m trying to raise money to purchase these items before the temperature drops next week. I don’t talk about this to try to lift myself up at all, but on the contrary. I am the worst of the worst when it comes to materialism and living life for myself with no mindfulness of the poor. My lesson from this day was that I needed to really know the poor; not just send a check into a non-profit, but to actually build relationships with those who have been through trauma I could never fathom. My challenge for all of us is not to simply tithe our money, but tithe our time and our hearts. Get to know these children of God who are our brothers and sisters. They need help, relief, love, recognition. It’s amazing how much they just want to talk because they are so rarely listened to. While I know that only a handful of people read this (I kind of treat this like a journal for this reason), I pray that one of you is moved to get to know the poor in your community or in a community close to yours.

This post is not about judgement. To judge those with much is no better than to judge those without. It’s just a post about my experience and the path I believe God is putting me on. We are all sinners, myself at the top of the list, but if my sharing my experiences moves someone to open their heart to God’s path for them then that accomplishes the purpose of this blog. We are all parts of the body of Christ. My passion may not align with yours, but my hope and prayer is that you nonetheless have a passion for the work God has led you to do. My prayer is also that our churches actively look to include the poor in their family of worship. I live in Franklin, TN and while we don’t have the population of unhoused people that Nashville has, we do pass them on the streets daily. Let’s do our best to invite the people who Jesus sought out and even used for his Kingdom to the church pews and I believe it will be enlightening for us just how much we could learn from the least of these. So while some would say that by walking the streets and underpasses of Nashville I’m getting my hands dirty again, I would argue that I’m finally starting to wash them clean.