XOXOXO

I'm sure it had something to do with the fact that he had been drinking heavily tonight. I'm sure it had something to do with the fact that he drinks heavily before he sees me every time. I'm sure some of it was I picked up his cane when he dropped it, and I'm sure part of it was that I moved a chair for him. But for whatever reason, I was given a hug by a very drunk homeless guy tonight.

I say that not because I did anything exceptional to earn this hug. I say it because when he did it, it was completely unexpected and really probably undeserved. And as he reached out his dry and cracked hands to mine, as he pulled me close, and as I smelled the alcohol so strongly I was afraid someone would give ME a breath test, I realized that it doesn't take any kind of exceptional person to reach out to our clients. What it does take is someone who is there.

Some of our clients have done some stupid things to end up on the streets. Some of them have simply fallen on some very hard luck. But every one of them want a couple things in life. They all want someone to listen to them, regardless of how crazy they may sound. And they all want someone to touch them with kindness. These are things that anyone could do, but unfortunately we have all too few that are willing to do them.

These are the things that I believe set Jesus apart from any other kind of messiah. Jesus listened. Jesus cared enough to be down in the dirt, to be available, to be there. And this is what I think God calls us to when we come to minister. We are caleld to be there. I hope I can be there with the kind of consistency and love that Jesus was.