Simple Thought...

I think it's time that "The Church" got out of a building....

An Elderly Dump Day

Ok, so I meant for the title to be humorous... though I can see how some people may not appreciate it. In any event, I thought since I usually say that the reason why I never blog anymore is because I mostly did it while I was in Honduras, and since I don't live in Honduras... I don't really blog. However, as I am in Honduras now, I thought I probably oughta at least blog ONCE during the couple weeks that I'm here. So here I go.... (I make no promises)...

Today, our two main goals were to visit some elderly people who are being cared for by a very nice guy, named Francisco, near El Centro (who also feeds drug and alcohol abusers every day for lunch). He picks them up off the street and does his best to help them get healthy again.... and we also went to hand out food at the city dump.

I would not say that visiting with the elderly is something that I exactly do all that great. Well, to be honest, visiting with people (young or old) I don't know isn't something that I do well at all. But, I do try to get around people who are a little more gifted at that than I am... and kinda add to whatever they're saying or doing with the person. So today, I was with my mom at first with a woman named Maria. She is 92 and has a whole lot of white hair. She is a big fan of telling stories and randomly singing. All of which, you can barely understand. And I don't just mean because I'm not exactly fluent in Spanish. Gina could hardly understand her at times. But Maria is still good natured and in good spirits. There were a couple other ladies, however, who were NOT nice... not to other people, and DEFINITELY not to each other. Goodness, one woman has a habit of tripping passers by and also rearing back to hit people if they get close. But the thing that was most impactful for me today (including the dump even) was when mom was visiting with a 90 year old man named Luis. He had apparently lived quite the life (according to what he said)... knowing 5 languages, living in NY, working in the CIA, meeting with the mafia to buy guns, and then living in FL for several years before being dejected, living in the streets of Honduras. He was now barely able to walk and had huge sores on his legs; potentially from his diabetes. He was talking to mom and she asked him how he felt about God. He was not so sure that God could love him because of some of the events in which is was present for. This included plane rides in which he translated for a messenger. Apparently if the messenger delivered a message that the man Luis was translating for didn't like, the man would have the man thrown form the plane without a parachute. Luis felt guilt for being witness to events like that in his past, and he seemed to be carrying quite the weight on him because of it. As he sat there and explained that, mom just assured and re-assured him that God loved him very much and was looking forward to welcoming him into heaven. And she also said that she wanted to see him there as well. Luis was a little hesitant at first to accept that God really did love him, because of those things. But as we were suppose to be leaving (and mom, Jen, Gina, Ashley, and I were the last people in the room... all with Luis), mom said that she prayed this morning that God would lead her to someone who was needing to hear God's love... and that God had led her to him. She then told Luis that we had to get going, but that she really enjoyed speaking with him today. And his response was simply "I'll see you in heaven". I tapped out at that point... got up and waited at the door. Talk about bringing hope to someone who felt as though there was little. Moments like that make me proud to be my mother's son.... though I think they make other people question the validity that I am, in fact, her biological son.

The Dump was the second stop of the day. It was a much calmer experience than the last time I was there in June with the GC group. Some handed out sandwiches, apples, and bags of water to everyone that came up to the truck (which is always many). And while that was going on, others of us went to help a girl Jen has been getting to know pick out some plastic bottles out of the "fresh" waste that was being deposited by the dump trucks. It's crazy to see people literally getting in line to rummage through the trash.... fighting with vultures, dogs, and cows (I know, weird) for garbage. There's no real way to accurately describe what goes on there. I mean, I suppose you could say what you saw and maybe kind of tell about how it made you feel. But unless you really see it... get up close with the people there, smell the mounds of trash, and experience just a portion of what encompasses their entire lives, I don't think that any amount of words could do it justice. This is quite ironic since going there seems to being about feelings of injustice. You just ask yourself "HOW could this possibly happen?! How could people get so bad that they are living and looking through thrash, fighting with animals to get things that we discard? How can THAT be someone's life?" Some people ask "Why would a loving God allow this to happen?" And as several people have now come to realize is that it's not God's fault they're there. God didn't turn away from those in need until they were forced to dig through crap (literally) to try to gather things that they could sell and eat. God didn't abandon a child and leave him or her to fend for themselves. Indifference and selfishness did. A focus on what we want and what we "need" created this society, and many others similar to it. So often the people that create the opportuity for this injustice are the very ones that later say "Why did God let this happen?" Really? God must have used His all powerful Word to restrain them from sharing what they've been blessed with. The reality is, it isn't that God allows those things to happen, WE allow those kinds of things to happen. WE are the body of Christ. WE are His hands and feet. WE are called to show and be Jesus to a sick and dying world. WE ought to be earning our undeserved titles as sons and daughters of the Most High God. Jesus said that the world will know that we are from Him by our love. Love isn't just something we say to show affection and make someone feel all warm and cozy on the inside. As DC Talk so eloquently stated... Love is a verb. And as the very over-sung song says (as well as the Bible), God is love. And if we are showing love through our actions, then are we not at the same time showing the character of God through them? So then if we think or say that God shouldn't let things like this happen, then why are we not, in fact, acting as we think God should? Because we think that God should just make everything perfect and happy and nice for everyone? Jesus didn't come and make everything perfect, did he? The literal Son of God did not heal every sick person. He didn't feed every starving child. But He gave us a new way to live. A new way to interact and impact those living in the world around us. Selfless. Hopeful. Loving. Full of Grace and Truth. How can we, living in this new way... REALLY walking in the steps of Jesus, allow such things to happen?


*DISCLAIMER*
I am pretty tired at this point and have been at this for a little while. So if parts, or all, of this blog seem redundant, or you just think I'm crazy, then that may explain some of it. Though let's just be honest, I'm pretty stupid just about all the time.