Through the tears...

Joy is the echo of God's life within us!

-anonymous

I was asked this weekend if the tears ever stop falling.  I couldn’t tell her yes because honestly, I pray they never do. 

When I went on my first mission trip, I was overwhelmed by the stark contrast of what I knew and what they had.  It was a black and white snapshot etched into my soul.  In the days that followed I would gaze upon the memory, with eyes welled up in wonder.  Time passed and the snapshot faded but the wonder never left me.

Since that time, I have had the privilege of traveling outside of my time and comfort zones and into the world and lives of others - Nicaragua, Ecuador, and Haiti.  Each trip has been a stepping stone on a pilgrimage of heart and soul. 

Each step has allowed me see beyond the obvious and the ordinary.  My eyes no longer focus on the harshness of contrasts – no longer black and white etchings engraved into eternity.  Rather each consecutive trip has become a Technicolor unfolding of a world I have only begged to know.

The tears still fall, my dear friend.  Yet, now they are a prism to the beauty and grace of a world created.  Rays of light separated into a rainbow of colors. 

Red and yellow, black and white we are precious in His sight…

Don’t hold back the tears my friend, look through them and be amazed.

© A Sacred Longing 2009-2011

Thanks to Shannon for this beautiful picture!

When I saw...

Not long after I saw those tents, I had the opportunity to do something more.

In a community where the homeless are “hidden” and “invisible”, you don’t know they exist.

But they do – exist, that is.

Barely

Like him, one who works every day. He had a home. He had a car. Lost them both at the same time and it isn’t easy replacing them.

Like her, she has a family but times are hard and they can’t help. Soon, they will be joining her in the ranks of the homeless. She wants to do more but near to 70 years jobs don’t come easy.

Whether we see them or not, they are here and there.

In the city

and

in the suburbs.

They would like a home. They would like a job.

What they are grateful for most is to be seen and acknowledged. Not for what they lack but for who they are beside their circumstances.

Men and women and children with hearts, souls, lives, experiences and stories much like you and me.

We all have stories.

And for a week, I was able to sit and listen to them and their stories.

Around a table we gathered with food and laughter. Awkward at first but by the week’s end we were family.

I miss them.

And when I see them, I let them know they are missed.

But most of all, I let them know they are seen and loved

by me

more importantly, by God.





© A Sacred Longing 2009-2011

When you see...

I live in a sleepy suburb of a Washington, DC.

A place where there are few sidewalks but many homes.

A place where you don’t always see the pain of another until the leaves fall and the wind begins to howl.

It is different in the city – less room, more visible.

Here, I didn’t know...

that in the woods near the W*lmart stands a tent that someone calls home.

I have been to Haiti. I have seen a post earthquake tent city.

But here

a tent

is a Home?

I don’t want to see but I can’t look away.



When you “see” what do you do?





© A Sacred Longing 2009-2011

We meet again...

She sits under the shade of an umbrella watching people pass by. It has been awhile since I have seen her. Yet in the passing days, I haven’t stopped wondering – who is she; what is her story.

We all have them, don’t we? Stories that is. Some are filled with abundance. Some are full of joy and laughter. If you were lucky, you had a good measure of both. There are those, however, whose stories carry more sadness and pain than we can ever guess to imagine.

Those stories aren’t easy to read. They lie hidden behind the eyes. We don’t get access to them with formalities and acquaintance. The pages only turn with grace, love, compassion and time. You earn the right to know the story. Not by what you give but by what you are.

Real.

Today, her story unfolded just a bit. In the warmth of July afternoon we shared time, a cool drink and a few words. Today, I know her name and now she knows mine.

Joan has a story.

And so do I.

© A Sacred Longing 2009-2010

I am joining in at Tuesdays Unwrapped at Chatting at the Sky.  Join us in the celebration of the moments that make up our lives.

Seeing things differently now...

I have seen her before walking in this neighborhood. I have seen her sitting outside of Starbucks nursing a tall cup of coffee. Still, I have no idea who she is.

Up until now, I barely paused long enough to get my own grande extra hot chai latte much less seek to encounter a stranger enjoying hers. Life has a way of keeping you busy. Leaving you distracted.

But since my Haiti trip, I have been seeing things differently and pausing more along the way.

This morning I see her again but this time it is different. What I saw was neither what I expected nor something I could walk away from.

On this morning, she is rustling through the trash can outside of a store, until she found a treasure in a crumpled Chick-fil-A bag. The remnants of someone’s feast are now becoming her breakfast.

Here, in one of the sleepy suburbs surrounding the nation’s capital a meal is gathered from a garbage can. I know this isn’t the first meal she has collected this way and that mere fact breaks my heart.

Where have I been? Why haven’t I had the eyes to see?

I am grateful, for what my mission trip to Haiti has done for me. It has given me a new perspective. I see life a bit differently – scratch that – a lot differently. Life was much more “comfortable” for me before March…now, I long to be uncomfortable.

When I consider things like two billion people in this world live on less than $2 dollars a day. Less than half of what a grande chai latte costs me. I am challenged. When I think of the sheer numbers of people who are being trafficked – not just overseas but here in our own backyard – I am confronted. When I read the scriptures, I am disturbed. I should be disturbed. We all should be. For in the Word we will find verse after verse that calls us out of our comfort and into a life of compassion and service. Not an infrequent trip to the homeless shelter or once in a lifetime mission trip overseas but rather a daily, minute by minute living out the suffering of those around us.

Challenged, confronted and disturbed all in the name of change. I have been asking God what He expects of me now that I have seen. He has been speaking.

He is causing a revolution in my heart, my friends, a radical change of perspective and new direction. To God be the glory.

© A Sacred Longing 2009-2010