Good Morning!
For the last week or so there has been a little blue car parked in the library parking lot directly across from our kitchen window. As we stand at the sink washing dishes, we see it, arriving early in the morning and remaining until dark. There is a woman who sits inside. We aren’t sure, but we assume she is homeless, using her car as a refuge and safe space. Jim said this morning that he has been thinking maybe he should go over and knock on her window to see if we can help. Maybe we can offer her something. Some little something. But what can we do against this huge problem of unhoused people in our country? And it is huge. We see homeless people every day whether we realize it or not. Many carry on their lives – work at minimum wage, send the kids to school, and at night sleeping on the couch of a friend or family member. Or in a dirty motel. Or in a car.
Why do things like this happen to people? Are they bad? Are they lazy? Is God punishing them? Did that woman do something stupid in her past that brought her to the place she finds herself? Or is she like too many people in America and around the world, just regular folks trying to make a living and running into brick walls time after time because of issues related to physical and mental health and education and just the way they look? Homelessness and poverty are real problems. Solving them is hard and messy and just not of interest to many. But it still bothers us….. and we correctly say, but for the grace of God, it could be us.
When I look out the window and see that car, my eyes rest on something else as well. There in the library landscaping, right next to where her car is parked, there are trees blossoming out in pinks and whites and day lilies popping their green shoots up from the cold ground. Where there was nothing just a few days ago, now the promise of lilies breaks through. And we fall back on God’s assurance that God is here. We are not alone. When we turn to him, little shoots of mercy flow through our lives. A kind word here, a bit of advice there, a hug, an assurance that “this too shall end”, the knowledge that somehow, someway, there will be enough coins to count out to see us through the day. Homeless or not, have we not all gleaned strength and faith through these same merciful acts from others?
During the remainder of this season of Lent, may we remember to be thankful. And in that thankfulness, to be generous. And kind. When we do, lives will bear fruit. The fig tree will blossom. And we will know that the gift of the cross was not given in vain.
I am so excited that we will be welcoming into our membership three wonderful people tomorrow. I want to encourage you to be at church tomorrow morning to extend the hand of love and friendship to these new members!
I love you all! Can’t wait to see your beautiful faces tomorrow!
Grace and Peace,
Rev. Martha