4.3.10

Holy Week on the Streets – starting at 10PM Thursday until 4:30PM Saturday I walked with 2 different groups of folks as we lived together on the streets of Nashville trying – in some small way – to identify with and put ourselves along with the homeless community. We took no money and only our ID in a backpack. We had to find where our next meal would come from as well as where we would sleep, use the bathroom and stay out of the weather. We intentionally looked for the spirituality in where we were and what our actions pointed us towards (something that most of our homeless brothers and sister don’t have the luxury to do). If you look back on my blogs to this time last year you’ll see this is the second year for Holy Week on the Streets. Many of the observations from last year are still applicable to this year. Only last year I stayed out for 24 hours. This year the additional day provided a few different insights that I wanted to share…

I confess I am a workaholic. Spending 48 hours on the street is serious rehab for me. We spend time with folks who’s days are spent with just a few things (if any) to do. The time to walk between locations, the time to wait in line, all conspire to create a slow pace that is more than I can imagine. Having a day or two with the leisure to be able to be hospitable to folks that just show up is teaching me a new way to think and live. I am convicted that there are elements of that pace of life that are more in line with the life of Jesus than what I’m living. I don’t remember Jesus ever saying he was too busy. In fact I remember him being at ease with interruptions to his schedule. He seemed to embrace those times and be able to focus on those as easily as he could the original plans he had made. Yet he never lost sight of the original plan. I’m too busy. I know it can’t change all at once, but over the next several months I want to continue to craft a life and a schedule that will allow me the time to enjoy interruptions and see the holy moments they usher in.

We are creatures of habit even more than we realize. Both groups that I was with for 24 hours struggled to stay focused and engaged for the 24 hours due to the reduced amount of sleep and the poor sleeping conditions. In both cases we got 5 hours or so of light sleep. We slept on the front steps of McKendrie UMC (thank you McKendrie for removing your “no trespassing” warrant and allowing folks to sleep on your property). But as we neared the 20 hour mark on our day on the streets both groups showed signs of fatigue due to a change of sleep schedules. I doubt many homeless folks get more hours of sleep or much better sleep that our groups. Yet we expect them to be able to move from appointment to appointment and be alert so that they can “get a job and get back on their feet”. Our group was literally falling asleep as we sat and talked about the day. Why should we expect anything more from our homeless brothers and sisters. But I then remembered that we serve a God that neither sleeps nor slumbers (Ps 121:4). That’s who I want on my side…