I am sending you the “blog” that you suggested I write. I’m not sure how this works. Do I need to leave a copy at the prayer room? I’m not sure that this is exactly what the blog is looking for. But it was good for me to write it down. It’ll help me to remember. I love you! Here ya go: I’ll be honest. Sometimes I love my volunteer time at 24/7 because it is time that I am forced to be still. Time that I am to be quiet and pensive and to reflect – which are things that are very difficult for me to do. Last Thursday night, while being one of my favorite 24/7 nights ever, was an exception to the “be still and quiet” that generally takes over for those few hours. There was more traffic then I expected on the first Thursday of the month. The last fellow to come in was with AA. He apologized for being early and asked if I’d join him in a cup of coffee. Within a few minutes we were discussing the beauty of the sacred space and how perfectly it suited AA’s needs. He added, in what seemed a defensive maneuver, that he was not a Christian and that he was gay. I felt like he wanted me to know that there were going to be boundaries in our conversation and that he didn’t want me going all religious on him. But despite our best efforts, the Lord just opened our hearts toward one another. We talked for about 30 minutes and my new friend shared the struggles he’d faced with rejection from the Christian community. He has been abused and unloved by a people that are called to heal and to love. He has had Jesus shoved down his throat by people who neither knew him, nor did they love him. He spoke these things without bitterness. He wasn’t tattling on Christians, he just didn’t want Jesus pushed on him. The Lord did not push. What He did was show up and ooze love and compassion. I wept for my new friend. I wept for God’s children and their misdirection. Father God, allowed me to speak not only for Him – but also on behalf of His sons and daughters. I was allowed the opportunity to apologize for us all – for the times we are not compassionate; for the times that we walk in judgment and condemnation; for the times that we forget that our God is Love and so should we be. When the time came for me to go and for him to set up for his meeting, we both cried. He hugged me, no not hugged – he snuggled me and told me that this was perhaps the most unexpected conversation of his life. Mine, too. But also one of the most precious. Please pray for our brothers and sisters who are using 24/7 to further their recovery. My prayer is that they recognize the “higher power” that lives in that sacred space and that we all can love their guts out.
