HE IS RISEN! – AND AMONG US…..
I would not have noticed her as I passed by had I not heard a faint “can you help?” I turned and saw a short, thin women of 70+ years. When I turned, she said again in what appeared to be embarrassment “can you help?” Strands of her thin, gray hair were almost floating and softly moving in the light breeze along the street. Her left eye was so faded in color that it was almost hard to distinguish from the white of her eye. And she had little control over its direction. I was in downtown Portland, it was Holy Saturday afternoon, and there was a lot of foot traffic around the shopping district. Her frail, well-worn hands extended out toward me and offered a small knit cap for my offering.
He is risen and among us…….
She struggled to look me in the eye. I wanted to engage her in conversation as one human being to another, not just drop an offering and move on without acknowledging her. I asked her how it happened that she’s on the street here.
“I can’t make it month to month.”
“Do you have a place to live?”
“I have a little studio apartment over there.” (She pointed down several blocks to a tougher neighborhood.)
“What about Social Security?”
“It’s not enough to live on. I have no other money.”
He is risen and among us…….
There was so much more I wanted to know. What about her family? Did she have children? Why was she alone and on the verge of homelessness? But I could see she was already embarrassed by my initial questions, so I shared some of what I had in my pocket - not enough, I’m ashamed to say - and I tried to wish her well, although it was hard to do without sounding trite.
He is risen and among us…….
I doubt if she was concerned that the day before was Good Friday, or that the following day was Easter. I sensed she was probably more concerned about how long before she would be on the street permanently. I wondered what it must be like to be at the end of your days, living in a meager studio apartment, deciding whether to eat or pay the rent. Yet, even in her sad condition, she is better off than millions all over the world who are displaced, dying in wars, suffering from the cruelty and hubrus of dictators, from starvation and disease.
He is risen and among us…….
It’s been a week since my encounter with her. I’ve thought about her often. She was very frail and vulnerable, not aggressive and insistent as are many of those asking for a handout. I barely heard her as I passed. Her voice was faint - much like the voice of God buried in the chaotic and soul-numbing din of our daily commerce. Perhaps she remains in my mind because she reminds me of my own frailty and vulnerability. I can choose to walk past such frailty, pretend not to notice, pretend I’m somehow immune to it. Or, I can embrace it, share in it, even for a moment, and in that moment, meet the One who bore our frailty and vulnerability, the one who is risen and among us.
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