May
10
Two Encounters
May 10, 2008 |
Throughout our week, we all have encounters with someone who is completely outside our comfort zone but nevertheless one of our brothers and sisters. They are one of “us” even if we have always considered them one of “them.”
This week, I’ve had two such encounters and they defined my week.
Last week, I had volunteered in my son’s preschool class. In his class is a boy, let’s call him Joey (after St. Joseph). He has special needs and is often hard to manage. In my time in class, I could see that he was a handful. From what I understand he can be tempermental and aggressive. His teachers do a great job in caring for him and teaching him. I noticed how excited his teachers were at the progress he made that day.
I tried my best to interact with him and had a great time with him and the rest of the class. But, as I left the class, I thought that the only child I had impacted that day was my son - and that was my goal all along.
That is until this week. I try to drop my son off at school at least once a week. I did it for his sister (before she graduated to the daily bus) and I do the same for him. I know it means a great deal to them and to me. A couple of days ago, I dropped my son off at the same time that Joey was getting dropped off. I said “hi” to him, and the next thing I knew he was coming up to me; and he just started, well, hugging me. He was laughing and just plain happy. And he just kept hugging . . . and hugging . . . and hugging . . . and . . ..
His teachers were a little taken aback and looked at me with a sheepish grin and, I have to say, an amazed look on their face. Finally, they convinced him to let go and go in the classroom. Then my son came up and hugged me. And both hugs just made my week. My son always hugs me - and they are always incredible for me. But Joey’s hug was in an odd way, faith affirming. Somehow, I reached him the week before. Somehow, God used me to reach him - and in turn we reached his teachers. I just know that Joey is this incredible kid trapped inside a body and mind that won’t cooperate with him. It’s up to us to reach him and respect him as one of the children whom Christ asked to come to him.
My other encounter was later in the week. I was part of a tour of a neighborhood in Cincinnati that is known for its history and its crime and its continual state of renewal. As we were walking past boarded up historic/crack houses, we came to a corner where a young man was being arrested. We walked by on the opposite end of the street but as we passed I looked at him and caught his eye. He was young and he looked lost. What he wasn’t was scared - I think our inner city youths have seen too much to be scared. In any case, here he was - it may have been his first time, it may have been his twentieth time, it may be his last time. But here he was - and here I was, walking past him, at a comfortable distance away - and we were looking each other in the eye. He off to the jail to continue a hopeless life, me back to the suburbs to my wife and children. Two sons of God, two brothers of Christ, two fellow travelers, yet two traveling on such different paths.
My prayers this weekend are for Joey and my brother on the street. We are all souls being pulled to the same place. It’s just a matter of how easy it is for us to get there - and how easy we make it on ourselves.
And as I read the news, my prayers are also for our brethern in Myanmar in the desperate hope that their leaders get a clue and let a very generous world in to help them.
I guess it’s been a rather humbling week as I’ve realized how blessed God has made my life.
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Today is the Optional Memorial of Blessed Damien of Molokai (Belgium/Hawaii, 1840-1889) - “Father Damien” dedicated his life to caring for the lepers of Hawaii on the Island of Molokai; priest of the Congregration of the Sacred Hearts; served the leper colony non-stop until his own death from leprosy; statue is in the U.S. Capitol’s Statuary Hall; beautified in 1995 by Pope John Paul II; expected to be canonized later this year.
