Monday, September 25, 2017

Downtown 9/24/17

"There was a rich man who was dressed in purple and fine linen and lived in luxury every day.  At his gate was laid a beggar named Lazarus, covered with sores and longing to eat what fell from the rich man's table.  Even the dogs came and licked his sores.  The time came when the beggar died and the angels carried him to Abraham's side. The rich man also died and was buried.  In Hades, where he was in torment, he looked up and saw Abraham far away, with Lazarus by his side.  So he called to him, 'Father Abraham, have pity on me and send Lazarus to dip the tip of his finger in water and cool my tongue, because I am in agony in this fire.'  But Abraham replied, 'Son, remember that in your lifetime you received your good things, while Lazarus received bad things, but now he is comforted here and you are in agony..."  The rich man answered, 'Then I beg you, father, send Lazarus to my family, for I have five brothers. Let him warn them, so that they will not also come to this place of torment.'  Abraham replied, 'They have Moses and the Prophets; let them listen to them.'  'No, father Abraham,' he said, 'but if someone from the dead goes to them, they will repent.'  Abraham said to him, 'If they do not listen to Moses and the Prophets, they will not be convinced even if someone rises from the dead.' "  Luke 16:19-31


Well, it's finally time to write about some of the recent trips I have made downtown.  I sometimes forget that what seems to me to be a rather ordinary encounter with someone, may be extraordinary to the person I've encountered and even those reading this blog.  A couple of weekends ago I was driving up Compton Ave.  I'm not really sure where I was, I know I wasn't in Compton at that point maybe still in Watts or just north of there.  As I passed through an intersection there was a man digging through a trash can on one of the corners of the intersection, in fact, the same side where I was driving. I passed him and realized what he was doing and so I drove around the block to come up on him again.  I'm not sure what this guy was wearing.  Our encounter was very brief because it was on a corner, but what he had on was not clothing.  Maybe it was carpet or something green and furry cut out like a poncho or something.  I never did figure out what he was wearing for pants  There was no shopping cart nearby with possessions that I saw.  I stopped and offered him a sandwich through the car passenger window which he readily accepted as well as a couple of bottles of water.  Over the course of the last couple of weeks this encounter has not only stayed with me, but has troubled me to no end.  He thanked me for the food and water and said, "God bless you." and everything seemed to go OK, but it has just left me heartbroken for this guy. The first thing that occurs to me is that this man, like few others on the street, spends every part of every waking moment looking for food and shelter.  That's each and every day.  So yeah, some guy pulls up and while he's looking for old scraps of food from someone else, he gets a sandwich, crackers and a couple of clean unopened bottles of water.  Sure, he's extremely happy in the moment.  But I'm kicking myself for not taking a quick look around for a place to park and let the guy go through the clothes in the back of the car and turn the stop into a total transformation for him.  Then I could have gotten the guy's name, prayed with him and found out where he hangs out and tried to hook-up again with him the next week.  I drove back by there last week, but couldn't remember exactly where it was although it's doubtful he would be in the same exact spot the next week.  I really feel like I missed a great opportunity.

Last week I really struggled finding the 'right' folks to help.  I ended up driving to places I hadn't been in a really long time.  I had given out over half the food by the time I got downtown so you don't want to go to places where there are potentially a lot of people or some (including me) will be very disappointed when you run out of food.  If you've ever seen the look on peoples' faces when you just gave out the last sandwich, you'd know what I'm talking about.  Well, I was on 7th and Alameda and there are usually a couple of homeless folks who hang-out in the parking lot of a fast food place on the corner there.  They came over when I asked them if they were hungry.  One of the men asked what church I was with.  I told him I go to church, but I'm not down here with any church.  He said sometimes people with a church will come down there and hand out food.  He ended up by saying, "Well thank you for just being a decent human being."  I got a good chuckle out of that one.

Two Sunday's ago I drove by the little street (Santee St) by the I-10 freeway and the Los Angeles St. off-ramp where I've helped a lot of people (including the woman whose name is Hope).  But there was a fire truck at the entrance to the street and it looked like they had just put out a fire by the freeway off-ramp at the end of this street.  Last week I went by again and a couple of people were back, including Dave.  He told me that they didn't know who started the fire.  He also told me that Hope is living under the freeway at Los Angeles or Main St.  I drove by there, but didn't see her.

I started today's trip in Compton again at a little encampment off Imperial Ave between Wilmington and Central Ave.  Charles and Javier were there (I prayed with Charles) and a couple of others. Javier was actually awake today.  Marilyn was there, but I didn't see any of the other women who live there. I ended the trip down on 10th Place and San Pedro Ave downtown.  When I pulled up there were two men sitting on the sidewalk there.  One man I had seen just the week before, but the other man I hadn't seen in a very long time.  He told me he had recently gotten out of the hospital and as you can see the leg brace in the photo below he had had to learn to walk again after the back surgery he received. The three of us prayed together and then they went through the clothes in the back of the car.  Thaddeus (the man with the leg brace) was looking for some shirts.  I mostly had women's clothes and he took some of them for his niece who was in a tent across the street.  A little while later she came over with a dress on that she had just received.  She asked me if I'd pray for her.  I told her "Of course I will".  She first wanted to go through the clothes so I waited until she was through and asked if there was something special she wanted me to pray for.  She said yes she'd like to get her daughter back.  I didn't ask what had happened I just put my arm around her shoulder and prayed for her to get her daughter (whose name is Kennedy) back.  Yes, these folks on the streets have real problems just like we do.  From health issues, economic issues and relational issues they experience them just as we do.




I began this blog with the story Jesus told of the rich man and Lazarus the poor beggar.  I always thought of the 'rich man' as a very wealthy man.  I have come to the conclusion that the rich man is you and me.  There a several points to the story, one being that we are to share and freely give to those in need.  The needy are often right nearby at freeway off-ramps, gas stations and fast food places, but the needy aren't limited to just people with economic problems, but emotional and spiritual depression as well. Lending an ear and just being a "decent human being" goes a long way to restoring their self esteem. Will this vulnerability lend itself to people taking advantage of you....yes it probably will from time to time. Our vulnerability is part of the price we pay to offer the richness and hope of God's kingdom to people struggling in this world.   Until next time. -- John