skid row

So our fellowship went to Skid Row tonight.
It wasn’t the first time, won’t be the last.
And I didn’t want to pray that I would see the people there as His children, because it would hurt a lot.
It did. Overwhelmingly so, but in no way do I regret it.

Where is justice when God’s children are ignored? Devalued? Labeled? Barely eke-ing out a living by day and sleeping on the street at night while those same streets generate billions for the frivolity of American consumerism (the fashion district, no less)?

The mark of who we are won’t be determined by the good things we do, but by the injustices we choose to ignore. Good things are easy because they flow with our “ethics code” and generally require nothing lasting from us. The injustices of life force us to face parts of ourselves we never want to see, and what they require from us is counterintuitive to everything we’ve grown up with.

I love that Jesus is counterintuitive to my self-focused inclinations. I love that Jesus is so compelling and so good. Life with Jesus means no regrets for following.

“All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing.” -Edmund Burke

“Yesterday while walking
Beneath an overpass
I saw the figure of Jesus
Standing barefoot on broken glass

His beard was graying
Smell of urine filled the air
Asking if I had some change
Anything that I could spare

Emaciated
His shaking fist balled up
Influenza and pneumonia
Begging God to take his cup

So different from his pictures
Breathing air through yellowed tubes
Jesus Christ, dying of AIDS
Can look right through you

And all have hated
Crucified and walked away
Savior of the prostitutes
Drunkards, rapists, and the gays

Under Bridges,
With hands raised
From the ghettos
They praise His name

Broken, crippled
In the dark of night
Raise your voices
To Jesus Christ

Hallelujah”

Brave Saint Saturn, Under Bridges

~ by Liz on February 27, 2007.