TGIF
She was standing outside the convenience store when I pulled in to get some lemon juice for my evening libation.
I would, as I always have, do everything humanly possible to avoid her.
She’s an older woman in her fifties or sixties or something like that.
One cannot guess with much certainty as the street adds years without them being lived.
She is homeless and has been for a long time.
She also stinks to high heaven because there are not restrooms everywhere she stays and she has taken to relieving herself as she walks.
She refuses to stay in shelters because she prefers her own company and that of convenience store clerks who don’t always share in her desire for companionship.
She is loud and crass and bold and I cringe when I see her and pray that something distracts her before she spots me.
She spotted me.
“HEY!!!!!!!” “YOU!!!!!”
People within a block and a half turned around…
She asked if I had a buck so she could buy a beer…I ignored her and slipped inside the store.
As I was waiting to pay for my faux lemon, I heard one of the people in front of me say “she just needs Jesus”.
Of course…that’s it.
She just needs Jesus.
That would solve the problem …the problem in reality being good folks like us having to pass a homeless person to buy our own beer.
She just needs Jesus…
Jesus would make her act like us, think like us, and live like us, and spare us having to duck her when we go to the store.
Of course He would…except…
Any damn fool could see she needed a bath, another bath, and then a shower.
She needed clean clothes.
She needed a place to stay and some warm food.
She probably needed medication.
She needed a beer.
I got out of line and got her one.
My exit plan was to toss it at her and run to the truck…but I took a deep breath and handed her the bag.
“I liked your book”.
“Huh?”
“I said I liked your goddam book…Amy used to read parts of it to me”.
Amy used to work at the store… and indeed I had given all the employees who wanted one a copy of my book.
“Yea, I liked it…you can’t survive out here without God”.
I thanked her and slid into my truck.
She already had Jesus.
She needed a beer.
Make your own application…
funny thing is, if she was going to church, if her problem was a different one, harder to detect, there’s some folks here who would condemn her…
now i anticipate same folks posting – dare i say, sanctimoniously – the churches wouldn’t let her in! … maybe not
God knows
good food for thought, Michael – thank you
Awesome.
Love it
Cool, you have a new friend!
Thank you, Michael. Very thought provoking.
This made my week brotha…..
So good, Michael!
Food, water, an overnight at whatever motel might be within walking distance, a change of wardrobe, perhaps even offer to launder her clothes or replace them, hit up 5 local churches’ benevolence ministries to get help pulling it off, and of course, giver her a copy of your book.
‘normal’ is just a cloak draped over our baggage.
I have Jesus and still need…but my needs are only apparent to the close observer, the salient, or the confidant. I struggle with my needs as a private foe, fearful I’ll be exposed as a poser, loser, or louse. I don’t need a beer; I need a win.
“I said I liked your goddam book…”
Classic! Rock on!
Thank you, folks.
fil…I’m right there with you.
Thus concludes another week of the PhxP for me…see you on Monday.
take Monday off, it’s a holiday!
Nicely Done, Michael.
Great piece and application.
Always love how you turn a phrase. In this one, I especially appreciated the line about her age,
‘One cannot guess with much certainty as the street adds years without them being lived…’
Also liked what the Hazelnut added, nice filby!
Now if she had been promoting some Democrat “liberal” cause, Jesus might have appeared to ward enough a bunch of ccers, reminding them about the first stone!
god bless my wallet, to hell with everyone else.
Michael (((((HUGS))))))
I said this before and just add it for what its worth. I have needed at times and I have tried to repent of needing, even air or water because we should need nothing at all ever. We are islands unto ourselves held together only by some tenable utilitarian connection that changes by the second. Out of the many sins of fellowship I have committed probably to two worse was, showing grief and actually needing Jesus. I never quite understood that. Still dont.
Michael’s beautifully related encounter with this woman has so many facets
paraphrasing – at least – what i’ve read above
G, “clean the old dear up”
fil, “there but for the grace of God … goes any one of us” loose translation
Ucc’d, not sure i got that one 🙂 something about self interest and hypocrites?
brian, “people see being needy as offensive and sinful”
i think that she’s probably mentally gone over the edge and needs, but probably would reject, custodial care… God for her is more a phantom principle than a friend, i suspect… all that said, we do have too many like her – the result of the civil liberties crowd that shut down the incarceration of the helpless – is life on the street better for them? dunno, but it condemns those of us who look down our noses at them… it is true that most of us wouldn’t know what to do, but wouldn’t it be wonderful, if there were a no strings attached place to clean up and receive medical care? … Christians (me) will answer for not finding a way to help them, no doubt
p.s., i haven’t forgotten Salvation Army and other shelters… perhaps, it’s just a case of not enough of them or not in enough places? every town?
If you have Jesus AND a beer your life is improved.
So many fall through the cracks. Most shelters have a limit as to how long they allow one to stay. And restrictions on who can stay. It is so hard when you want to help and there are so many….
While the gospel-centered crowd build their conference-driven kingdom, tweeting their delight with one another, they’ve lost sight of the Man of sorrows – acquainted with grief.
Good reminder, Michael.
#16 I’m thinking her relationship with Jesus may be less phantom than for many filling pews once a week on Sunday. Not necessarily in line with TC (theological correctness) but a truer life line in her survival than one might imagine. Like really down where the rubber meets the road, if you will. That her heart resonates with anything Michael has written in Make Your Own Application would seem an indication. More than a mustard seed of faith, I suspect. Don’t know. Just my thinking about it…
i hope Anne, you’re right about her faith in Jesus and i know you’re right about the pew sitters – sadly
yes, Dusty, you’re right on the restrictions (which are necessary, i know)…
but G.’s impulse could be partially carried out with some kind of sanitation terminal – a bare bones, cement floor locker room sort of facility with first aid type of medical care and screening and warm showers etc. – located at the back of the county sheriff’s office, police station or local hospital parking areas … target the “just leave me alone” souls, obviously not intended for homeless families
Well said, Michael. Life is strange, is it not? I certainly have WAY fewer answers than I ever dreamed. Ha. Perhaps ‘answers” aren’t what’s needed anyhow.
Anne, I agree.
A difficult life, physical and mental illness or abuse issues + alcoholism + the toll of street living = a complex solution or perhaps no “solution” needed.
Going out on a Christianese limb, may I suggest demonic influences that seek to destroy & kill, while shouting about Jesus, is rather Biblical.
“These men are of the Most High “…..Acts 16:17-18
I will pray for this gal tonight. That’s the only ‘solution’ and ‘help’ I can give.
What a great story LOL. Love it.
Judgement always messes it up!
Great to see you, Marianne, here on the Phoenix Preacher…..
Suddenly, my theology faucet runs dry.
I feel uncomfortable.
Your writing is effective….
I remember a bible verse that says “be warmed and fed”…
And a Keith green song “God bless you be at peace… and all heaven just weeps. Cuz jesus came to your door you left him out on the street”
People don’t just need jesus. They need help.
Great reminder. Thx michael
Some cities are arresting people for feeding the homeless
How are you cap kevin? Been praying for you
Paige still praying for your boys
What would she have done with a motel room for the night, a clean change of clothes and underwear, soap & shampoo, and a hair brush, toothbrush & tooth paste? Along with a Gideon’s Bible — and maybe some sparkling water instead of a beer. Try that next time and send me the bill.
You’re a talented writer, but I don’t see how giving a beer to a homeless alcoholic was more loving and Christ-like than say, giving something to eat? Stopping and talking? Maybe, I missed something, and maybe there’s more details that didn’t fit within what you were doing with this post.
Eric, i know your question is (rightly) addressed to Michael… it is a good one and was discussed quite a bit on this thread…
this is just my opinion… Michael did not have the resources (any of them) to take her on as a project that night… what he did was a simple gesture to affirm her humanity as he passed by
Here’s the order of events;
1. Michael breezes past the smelly homeless lady.
2. He overhears someone say that she needs Jesus.
3. This seems to irk Michael and he reacts by buying the woman a beer.
4. The woman says she likes Michael’s book and says something about God.
5. Based on this, Michael assumes she is a Christian and already has Jesus.
it’s called ‘poetic license’
it ends with a call to “make your own application”
we did 🙂
The nature of this medium demands brevity.
This woman has been around the store for a couple of years…I know some back story and much more information.
She refuses most help and chooses to live in a way most of us would choose not to.
This was one snapshot in a long film.
My point is often simply to get people to think outside the box as I keep running into more and more people who don’t live in one.
I knew the beer would be controversial…and I knew it wasn’t going to bother me that it was.
She may just pay more attention to some of the readings from michaels book. That might feed her soul more than the hotel gideon because michael was kind to her.