We've made it halfway. Day twenty of forty.
This culinary care has been tiring. It takes a lot of planning, time, and energy to try to make this whole experiment work. It disrupts our usual schedule, puts us in some uncomfortable positions, and makes us do these things we said we'd do even when we don't want to.
Then again, I guess that's the point of the Lenten season: to disrupt, unsettle, and discipline; to shake us out of our regular routines and comfortable lives; to stretch us towards a better life.
In any case, it's been tiring, and we're feeling it. So today was a nice change of pace. We went to a Hardee's near our church, within sight of two missions (the Triune Mercy Center and the Salvation Army shelter) and bought four $5 gift cards, and then drove around to look for people who might need them. We didn't have to go far...
Our first beneficiary was a man in the parking lot talking to an ambulance driver. The man told us that he was trying to get something to eat, and the driver said he wasn't allowed to carry cash but he wanted to help somehow. Problem solved. I handed the man a gift card, and as I walked away, I heard the driver say, "Well I guess somebody's looking out for you today."
The second and third recipients were two guys walking across an adjacent parking lot. We pulled up beside them and rolled down the window. "How are you guys doing? We've got these gift cards to Hardee's...would y'all like a couple of 'em?" They were very thankful, saying "God bless y'all!"
Just a couple of doors down, we saw a gentleman sitting on the steps of an abandoned building, so we drove down there. I got out of the car and introduced myself to "Bones." He had half a dozen loaves of bread, and he said that he was going to "feed the birds, and feed my soul...I got my Bible to read, too." I asked if he had anything for himself, and when he said he didn't, I offered our last gift card.
From start to finish, the whole process only took about 20 minutes. It only cost us $20. It happened within walking distance of our church. It wasn't very relational, but hopefully it met a need. In fact, I'm thinking about starting to carry a few such gifts cards with me all the time.
I don't know if any of the religious/God talk was sincere. I could imagine that I would talk that way to do-gooders, in hopes that they might be willing to offer more. But even if the "God bless yous" and talk of Bible-reading were for show, maybe just saying it can have a positive effect...just like the discipline of Lent, even when we're not totally into it.
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