Earlier this week I had lunch with a good friend who is also a  fellow blogger (see his blog – Karl’s Questions here).    After checking in with each other the topic of conversation turned to my summer field placement at ECS.  Before long we got talking about our attitudes toward the homeless, people with mental illness and people with addictions.  During my time at ECS, whether it be at the ACCORD DUI program or at the Downtown Safe Haven transitional housing facility, I have been spending time with people who are suffering from homelessness, mental illness and addictions.  As I get to know folk at ECS I am learning more about their lives and as I do so it is much easier to see the person within rather than the presenting issue.   The more time I spend the deeper each relationship grows and the more I see brothers and sisters in Christ who are struggling with life and their ability to cope.

I find myself challenging myself: when a homeless person or someone battling an illness wanders into the back of the church do I see a person or a cause?  If I am being brutally honest, many a time in the past I have seen the issue/cause and not the full human being.  If you ask yourself that same question and strip yourself down to full honesty how would you answer the question?

I believe that an important part of my calling is to fulfill a promise that we make whenever we reaffirm the Baptismal Covenant:

Will you seek and serve Christ in all persons, loving your neighbor as yourself?

My field placement is teaching me that I can only fulfill this promise when I walk along side my neighbor and accept them for all that they are.   This is the model that Jesus gave us when he called Zacchaeus down from the tree:

He (Jesus) entered Jericho and was passing through it. A man was there named Zacchaeus; he was a chief tax collector and was rich. He was trying to see who Jesus was, but on account of the crowd he could not, because he was short in stature. So he ran ahead and climbed a sycamore tree to see him, because he was going to pass that way. When Jesus came to the place, he looked up and said to him, “Zacchaeus, hurry and come down; for I must stay at your house today.” So he hurried down and was happy to welcome him. All who saw it began to grumble and said, “He has gone to be the guest of one who is a sinner.” Zacchaeus stood there and said to the Lord, “Look, half of my possessions, Lord, I will give to the poor; and if I have defrauded anyone of anything, I will pay back four times as much.” Then Jesus said to him, “Today salvation has come to this house, because he too is a son of Abraham. For the Son of Man came to seek out and to save the lost.” Luke 19:1-10.

Jesus did the unthinkable, he broke the rules in order to be inclusive to all, and to everyone who accepted his call he gives salvation.  Jesus called the sinner by name and insisted to stay at his house.

I pray that I continue to learn to look beyond the issue, to see a human instead of a cause.  Because an issue or cause is something that we ‘give to’ or ‘solve’.  A fellow human is someone who we love and in our love, Christ is manifested.

Next time I am asked if I will seek and serve Christ in all persons, loving my neighbor as myself.  I hope I can say with conviction

I will with God’s help.