By Myself but Never Alone

The heavy frost crackled under our feet as we made our way into the unpainted wooden house. I would have thought it abandoned if it weren’t for the small stream of smoke coming from the mouth of a crooked old chimney whose bricks were acting like an older man’s teeth. The gaps in and around the door and the lack of an enclosed foundation meant that the little ram shackled structure was one that breathed. The problem, of course, was that at nine o’clock on this December morning breathing the freezing air was the opposite of what anyone wanted to do.

As we entered I felt that I might fall through the weak wood flooring but quickly forgot about falling as I surveyed the one-room house. A coal-burning stand-alone heat and cookstove were to the left of the room’s center and a single bed to the right of center with a wooden kitchen chair beside. The only other furnishings were some wooden drink crates stacked up beside the head of the bed and between it and the heater. As I looked in the dimly lit room, I still could not see a person on the small mattress piled high with quilts but assumed there was someone there, alone.

What immediately grabbed my attention even more than the sparse furnishings were the walls of the house. They had no insulation or sheetrock and were covered only with old yellow newspapers. The thin layer of the newsprint allowed the cracks and holes in the board to allow the sun and the cold entrance in the little room. 

What brought my companion and me to the little shack that morning was an internship for a master's level course in Guidance and Counseling. This particular class had as a requirement that I work with a Social Services Caseworker for a week. The little house in the country was our first stop on the first day of the caseworker's weekly rounds. I had not prepared myself for the heartbreak of what I saw. As my supervisor gently spoke to the tiny person under the old quilts, I worried at the stove, which had warped over time allowing me to see glowing red embers peaking out of the heating chamber. On top of the potbellied stove was an opened can of beans and a small pot with water. The pintoes were for lunch, and the water to humidify the air in the room. On the stack of crates was a plastic spoon. The caseworker explained that the occupant’s grown son made sure his eighty-year-old mother had fire in her stove and something to eat before he went to work each day. She lived alone and spent her days as well as her nights in bed.

Peaking out from under the covers was the frail body of the house's owner. She had experienced many freezing nights alone. Between the wrap on her head and the blankets, a could see a deeply creased face, deep-set eyes, and a mouth sparsely occupied by teeth. “I’m all right,” she said when the gentle voice of the care worker asked how she was doing and if she needed anything. The county employee introduced me as I leaned in over the bed to get a closer look. “This is Mr. Rick Collins. He is a pastor from Chester and is studying at the University.”

Her ears seemed to prick as she tried to focus on my face and said, “Chester. And you a preacher?” “Yes, mam,” I replied. My next words were standard pastor issue. “May I pray for you?” 

She answered more firmly this time, “Yes, please.” Along with my supervisor, I prayed and in my prayer, I prayed that God would protect her as she spent her days alone. As I said, “Amen,” in conclusion, she looked thoroughly at me with a look that might have been accompanied by taking my cheeks in her weathered old hands if she had been able. I had seen the look many times over the years when an older person with great reflection gave you a piece of their personal experience. “By myself,” she said, and then with even more strength, her frail voice lifted, “never alone!  That is the story of God’s people small and great. We many times are by ourselves but never alone!

In all their distress he too was distressed, and the angel of his presence saved them. In his love and mercy he redeemed them; he lifted them up and carried them all the days of old. Isa. 63:9

Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world. James 1:27

As Foreigners and Strangers

“We are foreigners and strangers in your sight, as were all our ancestors.” 1 Chronicles 29:15

From the top let me say this little thought has nothing directly to do with the current debate over immigration and hopefully its reform. I am not making a statement as to whether we should or should not have a barrier. These words are neither liberal nor conservative as those designations presently represent political parties. I find myself both at different times for different causes. We need an equitable immigration policy as well as secure borders so that we can continue to be a welcoming nation. I will leave the border to our government to manage, but the strangers and aliens of the world are under a higher law. They belong to God.

            I ask you to join me today to pray for the world’s refugees, especially those who are poor and who may be fleeing for their lives. I live in the most conservative section of our great country. I have grown up around people who have loved and devoted themselves to one of the cornerstones of our faith and society, the family. These men and women would tangle with a bear before they let something happen to their huddle. It threatened, they would fight; if they were hungry they would get an additional job if they could, in order to provide. And if there was a better place, one that offered safety (or school) for their children and plenty for all, they would grab their backpacks and go.

       I well remember when in the sixties the textile factories in the south went into serious decline due to international manufacturing and my mom and dad discussed moving to Australia for job opportunities. We didn’t go but would have if needed. The fact is, I don’t know any good men in my part of the world who wouldn’t cross deserts, climb mountains, or face intolerable and dangerous situations at foreign borders in order to make their family safe and secure. That is a large part of the American spirit and I pray that we don’t one day face those conditions which may force us to flee the land we love!

       I am concerned that many of those trying to come into our land have become faceless to us. We don’t recognize their faith, their love for family, or their need for safety as driving forces behind what they do. They are becoming a part of a bigger story which doesn’t match who they are. They are not all gangsters or drug mules. If they had money, they would fly in for vacation and get lost in this great country of ours, or come in for educational purposes. But they don’t, so they walk or ride in the back of trucks at risk of their lives. They are not our enemies. Please pray for them. If they cannot enter into our country pray that the violence and poverty of their countries will change so they can remain in peace. If we cannot pray, we are in danger of losing our souls.

But please remember this, “We are foreigners and strangers in your sight, as were all our ancestors.”  That is Israel’s testimony. The history of all the world is the same. It is a history of people movement. Famine, drought, flood, pestilence, repression, and sword have kept the world's population on the move throughout the years. Jesus identified with every stranger and alien as Joseph led his family down into Egypt in the face of Herod’s threats. He identified with them and with us so that we all might be incorporated into his plan of redemption.

Peter writes to the church taking note of their plight by saying, “Once you were not a people, but now you are the people of God; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy. Dear friends, I urge you, as foreigners and exiles… “ 1 Peter 2:10

Dear friends, as fellow foreigners and exiles, please, put a face on those with whom Jesus identified by praying for them and asking God to bless and protect them as they journey to a better place. And may God Bless the United States of America!