Skip to main content

Dominos and Grace

“Thus you shall say to the house of Jacob,
and tell the Israelites:
You have seen what I did to the Egyptians, and how
I bore you on eagles’ wings and brought you to myself."

I met the 17-year-old and his family were walking past our house with luggage and plastic bags. 

I asked about this odd procession, a single mom with three boys, and discovered they recently moved into the neighborhood and were walking to the laundromat because they had no car. 

When I met the family again on the way to the laundromat, I asked the teen if he would help me with yard work for a little cash.

"Yes, sir," he replied.

He arrived on the set day and I showed him how to use the trimmer. 

When he finished trimming, I invited him to share some water as we sat on our deck. 

As we chatted, I asked him if he knew how to play dominos.

"No, sir, but I'd like to learn."

We set up a time, he arrived, learned how to play, and we played several games.

During the game, he shared his journey beginning with a cataclysmic event causing his mom to lose her $160,000 salary to more than a year in homeless shelters, to their current home. 

Our Dominos game was an occasion of Grace.

By Grace an epiphany opened me to the experience and emotions of events leading to homelessness.

A face was put on the homeless people I have encountered at church, the Bowery Mission, and at the Port Authority Bus Terminal meal site.

By Grace, the Exodus reading, which relates an account of the past, present, and future of God's people, becomes eternal.

By Grace, God's Covenant with God's people is an assurance of salvation toward a new future. 

By Grace, the LORD, will raise up as on wings of eagles, the wanderer, the seeker, and the prophets. 




Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Grantchester's Warning

"But know this: if the owner of the house had known at what hour the thief was coming, the owner would not have let his house be broken into. You also must be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an hour you do not expect.” (from Luke 12:32-40 ) I regularly watch Grantchester; a murder mystery set in 1950s England. The main characters are a local detective and an Anglican priest who, as a team, solve mysteries set in the town. Two aspects of Grantchester impress me. First, the simplicity of the 1950’s police communications done by a landline phone and not cell phone. Second, the simplicity of daily life with little television and fewer possessions allowing the characters to focus on their vocation of detective and priest. This simplicity is more than a nostalgic return to the “good old days”. Instead, it’s a Shaker type of simplicity where austerity allows freedom from distractions to focus on worship and community. Today’s distraction-filled world has seemingly countless activ...
Post a Comment
Read more

Walking with God

Praise the Lord, my soul; all my inmost being, praise his holy name. (from Ps.103:1-8 ) Thomas Merton, American Trappist monk, writer and theologian, once asked himself a question he immediately answered:   How does an apple ripen? The apple, by simply being in the sun, fulfills its purpose of ripening, The apple doesn't try to ripen faster, it simply allows the sun to do its work.   There is nothing it can do to ripen itself. It can’t do workouts, tighten its muscles and then suddenly be a red, ripened, juicy apple in the morning. The apple just hangs on the branch in the sun, naturally ripening, where it receives its daily nourishment. This is the basic plan for how Christians ripen in their relationship to God. The difference is that Christians don’t naturally ripen in their relationship to God, we have to place themselves where we can be nourished. The beginning place of nourishment I find most helpful is the Guide to Prayer For All Who Walk With God. The daily walk in the...
Post a Comment
Read more

Jesus, Deliverance, and Demons

"Then people came out to see what had happened, and when they came to Jesus, they found the man from whom the demons had gone sitting at the feet of Jesus, clothed and in his right mind." (from Luke 8:26-39 ) Astrid is a streaming program I often watch. The plot is a basic cops and robbers action until the criminal is caught. The uniqueness of the program is Astrid, who is on the Autism spectrum, is brilliant at solving puzzles including connecting clues to solve the crime. Watching this program has given me a more profound insight to people living with this condition and their acceptance in society. My first-hand experience with children on the Spectrum was driving a Special Needs school bus for 6 years. With this experience, I can imagine the life the possessed man was experiencing, especially living among the tombs, bound with chains and shackles, having to live in the wilds. It was no wonder he cried for mercy. Jesus, with his power and mercy, cast the demons out and even...
Post a Comment
Read more