Ben and I set out on our homeless lunch thing again today. We had an appointment to pick up James, our lunch was on all our calendars. Ben and I had a little wager going on whether James would show or stand us up (like Donald did). Ben was right, James did follow through on his word. James was waiting on the corner for us – hands crossed, bright yellow gloves + military green trench coat.
We had a great lunch with James. We learned more about his complex story. Her are some random bullets…
- Today was the first day in 2 years that James has had a cheese steak.
- He was able to get his medication from the VA.
- He’s about to get his “daddy’s” house in Laurel. He’s waiting on all the legal stuff to go through.
- His dad died last year, right before Christmas.
- He’s going down to Georgetown today, to get his birth certificate.
- He likes jazz and gospel.
- He gets help from the friendship house.
- He wants to buy my kids some Christmas presents. (I’m all for that!)
- He is a lieutenant, and was a sniper in the marines.
- He sweeps the parking lot of the Hertz rental place near the Wilmington train station. And they let him sleep in the garage there.
- He has seizures.
- He has cancer.
- He has no family in the area.
- He holds honor in a high place in his life.
- He likes to salute….
In all of these details, James is a really likable guy. Our biggest challenge with James is trust. He’s given little reason not to trust him. So far, he’s been a man of his word. Still, his story has holes. And it’s outrageous on many levels. It’s easy to play the skeptic and point to the inconsistencies.
Ben and I both agreed that we are rooting for James, and we’ll do what we can to help him. We have another appointment on Wednesday, to take James to the DMV so he can get his ID. The plot may thicken yet!…
Teach us to love like you love, Jesus – unbiased perfect love, selfless perfect love
Trying to see past circumstance…
I say trust unless you think in doing so you may perpetuate the problem. If you see no harm in trusting, then do it. Helping James is worth a risk.
nice prayer. it speaks to our situation.
Ben and I had a conversation about this last night. Ben was struggling with the question, “Is it wrong to be skeptical?” I said no, because the true desire here is to HELP people. If James is going to take the $20 and blow it on something harmful, you’re not helping him. So asking questions is a good thing, in my opinion. This is why I love what you guys are doing here: you are building relationships, driving people to the dmv, feeding people, listening to their crazy stories, truly helping people…not simply throwing money at the problem. I love that!
Thank you for showing me Jesus today.
This is the second blog i’ve read today about homeless people.
I know a man named Bill who is homeless…i’m need to go visit him today or tomorrow!
Thanks!!
cigarettes and orange slices are sooooo good together.