A few stories to ponder

Sorry for the influx of posting today, but as my friend Andrew pointed out, I hadn't posted anything since the 9th and so there is some catching up to do. One of my friends recently told me, "you do too much analysis and rationalization for your own good." (Thanks, Anna) What that means on the blog-front is that there is always something more to add.

I have still been processing what was brought up in the Hypocrisy or Honesty? post. [Just so you know, I don't just throw things up here and then leave them behind. Most of the time it is just an excerpt from my thought-life, as the title of this blog so suggests. And, as E.B. White once said, "The essayist is sustained by the childish belief that everything he thinks about, everything that happens to him, is of general interest." AND since, "Anything written by E.B. White must be cherished by writers and readers," (The New York Times) I think it is worth applying to my own life/blog.]

The woman at the well. Familiar story for many but here is the synopsis: A women who is living with a man that is not her husband and has been married and divorced several times in the past goes to get water from a well. There she meets a man. (It is Jesus. If you didn't know, sorry to ruin the end of the story for you) They have a little conversation there and Jesus begins to tell her all these things about her past and current situation that there was no way for him to know, except that he is God. They discuss hearsay and questions the women has about what she has been told about worship and at the end of the conversation, being at the well and a genius in using context, Jesus offers her "water that she would never thirst again." The women runs back to her town speaking of this man she meet that told her everything she ever did and offered the very thing she was looking for - completion and satisfaction.

This story hit me as I pondered the response I wanted to have to those in need in my current community. Jesus offered her something that would outlast everything else she sought. He "heard" her need at a deeper level. I began praying for "ears to hear" the needs of those around me. The REAL needs, the deep needs of the heart and soul, the thirst that was more than they could hope to have satisfied.

I was walking home from the grocery store by myself one day and a group of "street boys" walked past me. (Some say they have homes, but they are clearly on the street most of the time) Generally these boys are very obnoxious. They start singing these songs and greeting you in highly inappropriate ways and really crossing the normal physical boundary of strangers and the whole group of them can be intimidating. This day I wasn't intimidated. I just walked through them and shook my head at thier advances saying, "No," firmly, but lovingly. I got to the end of the gaggle and one boy stuck out his hand and just said, "I just want to greet you." I took his hand and shook it and looked at him and said, "Thank you," with a genuine smile. As I kept walking away from them I felt that familiar feeling that something had just transpired that was bigger than I knew. One, the group of boys needed to know I didn't approve and wasn't scared of them. Afterall, they are just boys. They don't have the security that comes from structure and discipline. It is like the teacher you like the best because they are loving, yet firm. Two, they needed to be looked at and valued. They needed to be responded to in pure love. Not responded to like they were avoidable and disgusting. Not with the false love that comes from living on the streets, or the shallow love that comes from quickly throwing food or money their way and hurrying past. I believe I "heard" their need - or at least the part of the need I could fulfil in that given moment and situation.

It happened again as I passed a lady in the street that called to me for help. I, in my insane judgment of people, thought she was going to ask me for something so I just shook my head as I walked by. "No, no, no," she said, "I just need you to read this and tell me what it says." She pointed to an instruction sheet for enrolling in school. I helped her understand what it said and where she could get the materials it was asking for. Again, in that deeper part of me, I "heard" the woman say, "Please, don't just walk by. I need help." She was desperate. I could have missed it.

One more story. Again, walking the familiar stretch of road home I came beside a woman carrying two heavy grocery sacks. "What time is it?" she asked me. "Just after five," I said. She rolled her tired eyes and took a deep breath. I found out that she had to take the train to get home and would be travelling with her heavy bags for nearly two hours to get to her house in a township. What did I "hear"? Can you help me? Is there anything you can do to help me??? I could not, but it almost solidifies these things because I will not always be the one to answer the need. (Read my dear friend Jonah's comment on Hypocrisy or Honesty?)

So this is my current prayer and, I believe, the beginning of the answer to my questions about interacting with others. If I allow myself to be open to people's real needs, and not just responsive to their outward requests, perhaps I will be able to show them what real love looks like and perhaps they will meet Real Love face to face one day.