"Come out of sadness from wherever you've been
Come broken-hearted, let rescue begin
Come find your mercy, oh sinner come near
Earth has no sorrow that heaven can't heal
Earth has no sorrow that heaven can't heal....
There's hope for the hopeless and all those who've strayed
Come sit at the table, come taste the grace
There's rest for the weary, rest that endures
Earth has no sorrow that heaven can't cure"
Come as you are---David Crowder
This is the last weekend before my work schedule changes back to nights. Sunday trips downtown will happen after I wake up in the afternoon starting next weekend. This weekend will be very busy trying to get a lot of things done. I had to fit this trip in a lot earlier in the day than I normally do and it was a little rough finding people initially. I had made another big pot of pasta to take with me. In fact, probably a lager amount than I have made in the past, so I was hoping to see a lot of people, but it certainly didn't start out that way. I drove around for quite a while and started to get worried that the pasta wouldn't be hot enough anymore. You can't just see someone on the street and pass some of it through the window, you have to stop and get out of the car and get the pot out of the back seat....needless to say, its a bit of a process. My first attempt was on Trinity St, but no one was there. I drove around some more and ended up going to the parking lot at 9th and San Pedro, but there were only a couple of people there at the time and they didn't seem too interested. So I ended up going on down to 25th and San Pedro to my friends in that alley. To keep other people out of their alley they put up a blockade of shopping carts at the entrance, but when they saw me, Pete moved them around so I could back in there. It was still a tight fit, but I managed to back in there.
After getting in there, I was in the process of getting out of the car when Pete told me that Billy had died a few days ago. I didn't get too many details about his death and I didn't ask much either. I have my ideas about what probably happened, but I don't know and it doesn't really matter how these things happen. I will always remember my first couple of encounters with Billy. It was only about October or so I think when I first met him in this alley.I didn't have much food left when I got to him. I handed out some bottles of water and held hands and prayed with him and Miguel that night. I'm sure it was the first time anyone had prayed with Billy in years, if ever. I ended up finding a couple of cans of mixed veggies in the car and gave one to Billy and one to Miguel. I kept seeing Billy in his make -shift shelter that night lighting something up. I didn't need an explanation as to what he was doing. But the next time I saw him he introduced me to his other friends there as his "best friend". I was honored. The last time I saw him was just a couple of weeks ago. I had again taken down a pot of pasta and while the people in the alley were going through the clothes in the back of my car I was dishing up food out of the side passenger door. Billy had gone back and gotten a bowl from his shelter and wanted me to put his food in it. His bowl was a "little" bigger than the ones I had (like maybe twice the size). You know its in serving others that you learn a lot about the heart of God. We try to understand things in a "one size fits all" mentality. At first I didn't want to "fill up" his bowl because that would mean that he would get more than everyone else, or maybe there wouldn't be enough to go around because he got too much. And sometimes you do have to put some limits on things....I get it, but God's grace is enough that even people who need a lot of forgiveness, get all they need. He needed to know someone cared for him personally, I did. I loved him just the way he was. Over time I would have learned a lot more about his life journey and come to understand him a lot better. We never know how much more time we have to get to know or say the things we want to say to others. Billy was my age and his life brought him to the end on an alley in Los Angeles. I'm sure it wasn't where he thought he'd end up or his parents thought he'd end up when he was a kid. We all have hopes and dreams when we're growing up and as parents you have hopes and dreams for your kids when they grow up. Yet here was where he ended up. When I thought about it later, the day he died was during the time we were having very heavy rains this last week. The fear and the reality of many is they end their lives all alone. Whether its a nursing home a hospital or even in your own home, we face the end far sooner than we usually anticipate. I hope in the short amount of time I had with Billy that he experienced a glimpse of what the Kingdom of Heaven would be like enough to have desired it at the end. I keep thinking of the account of Jesus' crucifixion and how one of the thieves crucified with him asked for a place in His kingdom in the end and Jesus granted him that desire.
Well, there weren't but three or four people in that alley Sunday who received some food, so I had to keep moving. It was still early and people were a little hard to find. I drove down an alley under the I-10 freeway by Central and 16th. There were a couple of guys there who are usually on Trinity St, but had come here for shelter. They called out to me as I drove by so I stopped. I've seen them before. They were listening to the Packer-Redskin football game, so I hung-out with them for a little bit. I told them that I had gone down Trinity earlier, but no one was there. They told me Leticia and Antonio had just walked by a few minutes before. So I saw them next. I still had a lot of pasta left and went over to 8th St. About 3 summers ago I used to see a couple there all the time. There names were Elisha and Maurice. They had left a long time ago and I figured they went to Texas, which is where she was from. I've driven down this street many times since then, but they haven't been there for a long time. Well, Sunday they were! They were back and happy to see me. They told me they thought of me often, probably just like I thought about them and how they were doing. I not only stopped, but I got out my chair and had a bowl of pasta with them. We ate and talked about what's gone on in the last couple of years. It turned out that Maurice's mother had gotten sick and they went out to where she was. She died a short time later and then a month later his father died too. During this time they were able to find some temporary housing and Maurice even found some temporary work too. But everything ran out and now they are back. Elisha seems to be having some physical health problems that they need to see a doctor about. I stayed with them for an hour or so and left a large amount of pasta with them for later that night.
I drove around and helped out a few more people ending up with Phillipe on Venice Ave near Los Angeles St. Phillipe was the man who asked for a blanket back in November and I made a special trip back down there that night to get one to him (See the blog from last November titled "The blanket story") . Sunday I almost didn't recognize him. He had one of those small two wheel carts that you see women walking to a from a grocery store with. He said someone stole his shopping cart with all his stuff in it. Here again is where I learn the lesson of grace abounding with God. We are quick to make judgements about people and whether or not they "deserve" to receive more of our help when we've helped them in the past with the same issues. Yet God continues to forgive us of our shortcomings and now it's time for us to forgive others of their shortcomings too. Here he was with hardly anything! Who was I to deny him the last blanket I had with me. He also received the last of the pasta. Serving is the path to learning. Praise God. --Until next time. John
Here is a link to the song above.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OuX9oTGBCw8
I love that line....Earth has no sorrow that heaven can 't heal.
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