This week I’m going to brag about my fiancé. If you know me, you know this is an unusual thing, especially when two weeks ago I was talking about the fight we had… bit of a switch. No, I didn’t get in trouble for writing about our fight and now sucking up… she’s been too busy and hasn’t read it yet. I’m actually going to brag about her because in the summer she displayed what it means to be a Good Samaritan. The Good Samaritan is a term made famous by a parable by Jesus (Luke 10:25-37) where he describes what it means to truly love our neighbor: love without personal pride, judgement or fear.
During our mission trip to LA we spent our day off from working in the soup kitchens at Venice Beach where our group bathed in the ocean and the sun while I bathed in sunscreen; being pasty white is great. For lunch we walked up the street and found a little diner that let me order a burger with pancakes on the side; I’m way too healthy to order fries so I had fried dough dripping with liquid sugar… it was delicious. Is this important to the story? No, but it’s a good memory for me. Because this diner was so close to the beach it had a sign that said “Bathrooms are for customers only and requires a key and Chad is the coolest guy alive.” One of those details, however true, wasn’t on the sign; guess which one. While my group and I were waiting for our food, an older lady carrying a number of bags and who had the distinct look of someone who lived on the street came in. She snuck her way through the front of the restaurant and waited outside of the bathroom. After a few minutes another lady came out of the key entry bathroom, looked at the lady with the bags, and then kindly held the door for her to let her sneak in; they didn’t obey the sign. Eventually, when the lady with the bags came out of the bathroom ready to sneak away, my Good Samaritan made her move. You could tell the lady with the bags wasn’t used to being treated so nicely because she was immediately afraid of Alyshia when she said hi, but within seconds Alyshia had ordered her a meal and was sitting at a booth talking with her. I found out later that the lady with the bags had fled her home in Cambodia during the Cambodian genocide in the 70s after both her mom and dad were killed. Alone and separated from the rest of her family she spent the next ten years living along the coast of America until she settled in LA where she’s been staying for the past twenty years. She was currently on the street because there wasn’t enough low income housing in LA – affordable housing is a major problem in LA. To make matters worse she eventually ended up going blind, and she can only see bright colours close to her face. Fortunately this allows her to continue making jewellery, but she has a problem with people stealing from her because she can’t see to stop them. Her vision is so impaired she can’t use utensils to eat her meal and instead has to use her fingers to find the food. She was a gentle woman, and even though we had met some other very nice homeless people while in LA, Alyshia’s companion didn’t actually have anyone she could call a friend. She was alone and she struggled with being mistreated by others. Even homeless people would try to steal from her and take her sleeping spots. She even had a hard time with the police because the area was so focused on tourism; for instance, the police were continually asking the homeless people to leave visible areas and prevent them from using the free outdoor showers at the beach because they were meant for tourists and visitors.
When it was time to go Alyshia asked if she could pray for her new friend and give her a hug. Hugging her, Alyshia said, was a very emotional experience because the woman held her like no one had cared for her in a long time. Alyshia concluded her story by saying that she felt if for no other reason God wanted her in LA to love this woman and help her know she wasn’t forgotten. Listening to Alyshia tearfully retell this story I couldn’t help but wish I had of encouraged the rest of our group to pray and hug her as well before we left. Unfortunately, my mind wasn’t as prepared to share this kind of love as Alyshia’s was. I was in my own little world of burgers and pancakes sitting with friends. This is the problem for many of us: We get caught up in our own worlds and we don’t stop to think about the needs of those around us. With Alyshia being ready to share a meal with the lady with the bags both of their lives were touched. The lady with the bags was treated with the respect and care we all deserve and Alyshia got to experience what it means to make a difference in someone’s life and to truly matter. By being thoughtful and kind, Alyshia experienced the best moment she had all week, and left me proud enough to brag about her.
This week may you keep your eyes open for opportunities to help someone around you in a powerful way.
Rev. Chad David, www.ChadDavid.ca, learning to love dumb people