by Wil Posey
Holy Week began for me with singing “We are building up a
new world” at the base of a stoplight at 15/501 and Mt. Moriah Rd. On Holy Monday, a group of folks gathered at
this intersection to stand in solidarity with our neighbors who are presently homeless,
and in protest of Ordinance #14375.
Some of the men holding their “Hungry Please Help—God Bless
You” signs are regulars there; you may have recognized them. Others—also donning orange vests and carrying
cardboard signs—who took to the medians and street corners included local
clergy and laity. Their signs read
things like, “Asking for Help is Not a Crime” and “I was Hungry and you Fined
Me.”
As for me, I was at the base of a stoplight, singing,
listening, watching, worshipping.
Leaders of the protest read Scriptures about charity, love, and visions
of God’s kingdom. They also shared
snippets about saints who dedicated their lives to the poor. And, of course, we sang. All the while I watched Durhamites—homeless
and homed—pace the medians asking for change.
Around this time last year, former Dean of the Duke Chapel
Sam Wells spoke to a crowd of us in Whitford Hall and said when he first came
to Durham, he asked the question, “Where does Jesus tend to show up in
Durham? That’s where I’d like to hang
out.” I went to the protest on Monday
because I suspected that’s the sort of place Jesus is likely to show up.
Don’t get me wrong, I also believe with many others
Ordinance #14375 criminalizes begging, prevents us from having the opportunity to
practice generosity and charity, and pushes our homeless sisters and brothers
further into the shadows of our city. I
went to protest those injustices, but I also went hoping to bump into Jesus.
And Jesus showed up. I believe Jesus was present in the parents
who held signs of protest while their children played in the grass nearby, and
Jesus was in the kids who brought their own protest signs. I believe the Spirit of Christ was in our
singing. I think Jesus showed up as
members of his body gathered to stand in solidarity with one another on a
frigid Holy Monday. And I think,
perhaps, Jesus was present in our brothers holding signs saying “Hungry Please
Help—God Bless.”
During Lent we have thought and talked about how we might
walk with Jesus throughout these forty days of fasting, devotion, and
penitence. In walking with our homeless
sisters and brothers, we walk with Jesus.
As I was leaving the protest, I asked one of the homeless
men, “Do you know my friend over there?”
He said, “Her? Yeah, she goes to
my church!” My church.
Ah, yes! Thank you,
God. Lord, help us be your church, for
the poor and for the world, to the glory of your holy name. Amen.
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