Skip to main content

Scared to Serve

Yesterday on my way home from work I noticed a man on the corner.  He had a long beard, a bandanna, and baggy clothing.  He was acting strange.  He was bending down like he was going to charge, and then running at the road.  He would stop before he got into traffic, but I began wondering if he was working himself up to run into traffic. 

I watched him while I drove through the McDonald's.  I assumed he was homeless and the more I watched him the more erratic his behavior seemed.   I spent a great deal of my career working with people with the mentally disabled, and I was afraid of this mans behavior.  I also had the training to deal with it...so I wondered what to do. 

He was not my responsibility, so I passed the buck.  I pointed him out the the poor girl at the drive through.  I told her they should call someone, he looked like he was going to jump in front of traffic.  She told me she would tell her manager.  I drove off, thinking I could let it go...but I couldn't. 

The Holy Spirit had my attention.  Did I want to be the sort of person that left a situation God had prepared me to handle because "it was not my responsibility"?  If not me then who?  I was scared so I prayed. 

I pulled back into the parking lot and got out of my car.  I didn't want to approach right away, because they could raise his defenses, so I planned to walk around the block and greet him as I passed.  I prayed for God to open the door for a conversation if it was God's will for me to talk to him. 

As I passed, I looked him in the eyes and said "Hey, how are you today?"  He grunted as passed each other.  I kept walking.  That was not a good opening.  I stopped at the bus stop to look for another one.  To pray and ask for guidance. 

As I sat and watched another person pulled up in their car.  They handed him an ice cream from McDonald's saying "It must be hot our here, I thought you might like this".  The man took it, went inside and enjoyed his ice cream, completely deescalated. 

I was trying to offer my experience and my expertise to no avail.  They simply met the person's need.  What a blessing to witness.  I spent the car ride thinking about how I need to do better at seeing the basic human need and not analyzing everything.

Thank you lord for sending that person, for meeting that guy's need, and teaching me a lesson.  I am sorry for my pride and ignorance. 
Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Death Will Lose it's Sting

Our reading from the Narrative Lectionary this week is 1 Corinthians 15:51-57. In these verses, Paul reveals a mystery, that in the end some will be transformed, given a new body, instead of facing death.  In other words death is not one of life's two certain terms.  It seems taxes may be the only guarantee.   "...in this world nothing can be said to be certain, except  death and taxes ." - Benjamin Franklin. Ok, all jokes aside, these verses are difficult to read.  Paul looks forward to a time when death will have no victory, it will have lost its sting.  But today, we are in the middle of a pandemic, surrounded by death.  Many are scared for their lives, or their loved ones, and too many have already been lost.  Death does not seem to have lost its sting at all, it feels as if it is closing in. When I worked in wilderness therapy I remember holding a child who was desperately trying to kill himself.  We cried together as he struggled to end it, and I struggled
Post a Comment
Read more

Fool for Christ

Our reading from the Narrative Lectionary this week is 2 Corinthians 5.  Verse 13 stood out to me. If it seems we are crazy, it is to bring glory to God. - 2 Corinthians 5:13a (NLT) John Wimber, the founder of the Vineyard churches did a famous sermon called "I am a fool for Christ, whose fool are you?".  Reading this week's text reminded me of this wonderful sermon.  Wimber's sermon reminds us that, as christians, we are called to something truly radical.  The christian walk is strange and counter cultural.  Jesus once explained this to his disciples in John 15 "If you belonged to the world, it would love you as its own. You don't belong to this world, I have chosen you out of it.  That is why the world hates you."   Peter, in a letter to the church, later referred to all of us as strangers just passing through this world.   Do you feel like a stranger?  Do you feel like the world hates you?  Are you a fool for Christ? Here is the thing, you are going t
Post a Comment
Read more

Prayer Part 2 of 4

  This is the second of four weeks the narrative lectionary is focusing on the Lord's Prayer as found in Luke 11:2-4.  This week we are focusing on the second section: "Give us this day our daily bread." At the time and place that Jesus said this, bread was the center of every meal.  To his people, it had a long history of being a symbol for God's provision.  It was often used to refer to any meal or food, and in this case Jesus expands it to represent all of our needs.   A long time ago, in a place that had been ravaged with war, orphanages were overwhelmed with children.  In one of the facilities, the relief workers noted that the children had trouble falling asleep each night.  They struggled with anxiety, wondering if they would have food for the next day.  Their lack of sleep led to more anxiety and a troubling downward spiral of their mental and physical health.  In an effort to meet their needs the workers tried something new one night.  As they tucked each chi
Post a Comment
Read more