Why Do I Even Go?
These past few Friday mornings I’ve been making my way down to BOB’s (Breakfast on Beech St). It is a little room just west of the downtown district here in Abilene (yes, there is what some would call a “downtown”). Early each morning about 30 homeless and poor show up on the doorstep of a church kitchen and stand in line together. Great people from churches all over the city come to serve the hungry – I’ve been coming just to befriend some of the people eating.
This morning as we stood in line, rain pouring down on us, I began to catch a glimpse of what it might be like to huddle together under a bridge to stay dry. One person I overheard had been staying in a cotton field to protect themselves from the cold winds, but when the rains came, flooding pushed them even from that humble abode. In contrast, I had come from a nice warm house, (small as it may seem to me at times). I had enjoyed a nice meal the night before, and I had had a nice shower and a good shave before I drove in my working car down to BOBS to meet everyone. Needless to say, finding a starting place for conversation with them can be difficult.
How do you even begin a conversation with people so very different than you? What can you say to them that will connect with them on a meaningful level? What issues are taboo and isolating? Do I purposely dress to fit in? Where did the concept of “us” and “them” begin in my own life?
As I left I found myself asking the question: why do I even go?
Something is calling me to people who are different than me. I’m sure I’m a minority here, but I get a real rush anytime I can make a deep connection and establish a friendship with someone who has very little in common with me. I’ll spend the rest of my day with people just like me, arrogant, overeducated, overfed… Just for an hour or two I’d like to be the outsider looking in. For just a little while I’d like to be totally thrown out of my comfort zone; the one with the biggest learning curve. It’s awesome the things my friends on Beech Street have taught me.
Last 5 posts by Mark
- God is Wholly - October 2nd, 2008
- The Great Moderation - September 30th, 2008