My wife and I have been sifting through the detritus of living in the same house for 37 years and were dropping off some of our culls at a thrift shop on the northside of town. There was a man sitting in a chair in front of the shop and it was evident life had not been kind to him. I talked to him a bit, found that last night he was sleeping on the steps of a church and the police took him for a night in jail. This morning, he walked across town to report to his parole officer and now was walking back to a Pillars facility to see if he could get some food. He said he was exhausted and couldn’t walk another step. He said he couldn’t read or write, has two daughters he hadn’t seen in years, he obviously hadn’t showered in some time and probably owned just the clothes on his back. We gave him, name of Tracy, a ride to Pillars and $20 he said he would use to feed himself and buy a bus pass. We drove off back to our lives.
I recall someone saying that democracy is the worst type of government except for all the rest. This past election was difficult for me. I am concerned for people like Tracy and what will happen to them. The few services they get now may well dwindle and there may well be more people in his situation. I am concerned that we as a society have forgotten Matthew 25:40 and “To love one of the least of these, you did it to Me.” One of my mentors (he would be embarrassed to know I am referring to him as such) said that when a church or government get so wrapped up in law or doctrine they forget how to love. I am concerned that a lot of the rhetoric of the presidential campaign certainly didn’t sound loving and didn’t give me a lot of cause for optimism.
One of the basic tenets and problems with democracy is that we all have to live with the results of the election, whether or not the candidate you support wins. I believe that the purpose of government is to take care of the people it governs and I will have to give this new administration a chance to prove they can do that. While they sort that out, I am going to try to control the 4 square feet of space I live in and do what I can to be a positive in the lives of the people around me. I think God put Tracy into that space next to my 4 feet of space to help me realize that I can be positive despite what might be going on around me. I think we as a church family can do the same. Our benevolence, financial and otherwise, is how we can live out service to the lost, the least, the hungry, and to be His hands and heart, just as Jesus calls us to do. May it be so.
Jim Weyers
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