day forty: (un)finished!

We're finished with our Lenten culinary care! Well, kinda...

The last day of our Lenten practice was a good transition. We helped serve a meal with others from our church at Triune Mercy Center, a non-denominational mission church that ministers to/with the homeless. We met at the church to prep the food (and talk and hang out), then we headed to Triune to serve.

Getting plates ready to serve

The dining room at Triune

We prepared trays of plates in the kitchen, and (and here's the great part) actually served people at their tables. This was no buffet line or take-out. The homeless and hungry of Greenville are able to sit down and be served. 

It was appropriate, then, that many of the people from our church serving were deacons. Diakonos means "one who serves at table." They were living into their title in a very literal way.

After we finished serving, we set up Triune's sanctuary for the multi-church Easter sunrise service the following morning. And as we left, I thought, "Well...we're finished."

But not quite...

The next morning, as I stood outside the sanctuary after the sunrise service and spoke to those who had worshipped, I found myself in a conversation with Eric, who was homeless and had come to the service. There were about 30 people who were going to eat breakfast at Tommy's Country Ham House next door, and I couldn't stop myself from inviting him to eat with us.

I went and sat down, and even then was thinking, "Why did I do this? I just want to have a nice breakfast with my church people, with Suzy and the baby. I just want to have a normal conversation. I'm finished with this Lenten thing...so why did I invite him over?"

I guess I wasn't finished after all. After forty days of practice and discipline, I don't know if I can just "turn it off." 

So I guess these forty days served their purpose. Culinary care has become ingrained in my life and lifestyle. It looks like I will never really be finished. 

Or, to put it another way, I will always be un-finished.

day twenty: the gift (cards) of giving

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.