I often frequent My Brother's Table, a Soup kitchen catering to the poor and homeless in downtown Lynn, on Tuesdays and Thursdays. This is my Mentored Ministry, but it's become more than that. These are some friends of mine that I hang out with on Tuesdays and Thursdays.
Today, after a rather productive day in getting around and talking to a lot of people at dinner, I didn't think it could get any better... until I met Paul.
Paul caught me on my way to the other side of the building where the Lynn Emergency Shelter (at least that's what I think LES means) is. He asked me if I could spare any change so he could get something to eat. The soup kitchen just closed, so I gave him my last 6 dollars. Now generally, it's not a good idea to give people money because of the general distrust of homeless people (they will spend it on booze or drugs, etc.), but I acted on impulse to what I felt led to do at that moment. Call me a sucker or naive, but I believed him. He thanked me and went on his way...
Or so I thought. He turns around and says to me, "I want to sing you a song." and with that came up to me and started singing Psalms 23 (The Lord is my Shepard, I shall not want...). Now, keep in mind, he was incredibly close to me, face to face, so I could smell what was on his breath. He was drunk :) His handshake was calloused, but firm. He asked my name a few times and told me his twice as well. He asked me to help him sing the Psalm and finish the words, as he couldn't quite remember them all, so I did (though I wasn't much better!). Two of us standing in the middle of the sidewalk, trying to figure out the words to Psalms 23; it was quite a scene!
He asked me what church I went to, which I thought was strange because I never brought it up. I told him about ECIC and that it was right down the street. Soon, his tone became more sullen and his voice full of longing. He said to me, "I want to go Home. I want to go Home. Can I go Home with you?" I soon figured out what he meant: He wanted to come to church with me. He wanted to come home to His Father. I told him about Pastor Kurt's sermon this Easter Sunday about how God misses us, and he commented that he's been away for a while. He said he would come next Sunday at 11, which is when I said service was.
Do you think this is real? Did he mean what he said? Was all this just drunk talk? Will he even remember meeting me? Only God knows, but I am excited to see what will happen next Sunday! I'm praying that I will see him again, either on the streets or in church, although something tells me he isn't going to forget my name. At this point, I could care less even if he did use those 6 dollars I gave him to buy beer. It's his money and he can use it how he likes, but it's amazing to think that 6 dollars started a conversation and perhaps even a friendship. I am glad.
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