Dakotas Diary: A Summer Interruption

It was a Saturday and I was sitting in a long line of traffic at the intersection of 42nd Street and 13th Avenue in Fargo. If you know the intersection you know that it’s always busy, but this day was even worse. It seemed as though I had been at the stoplight longer than usual, when finally the light changed and the line inched forward – only to stop once again.

I confess I was a little irritated … I was in a hurry (of course!) and even though I was only running the kinds of errands that you do on a free Saturday, I didn’t want to wait through another red light. And I couldn’t imagine why the line wasn’t moving.

And then I saw why.

A man was standing in the middle of the median. He was holding a handmade sign on a piece of cardboard that read “Will work for food.” Now, we’ve all seen that before and – if you are like me - usually I drive by trying not to look at him – even though he is often standing just feet from my car window.

But that wasn’t why traffic had stopped.

It had stopped because this time, someone had actually seen him. And more than that, the woman who had seen him – instead of moving on – had gone over to the restaurant across the street and had bought the man a meal. She had stopped traffic because she had to run across all three lanes of the busy intersection to give him his food.

I was amazed. I had never seen that before, and as I went on my way to do all those errands that had seemed so necessary only moments before, I found myself haunted by the event. It reminded me of a comment my son Joel made when we saw a similar sign in Iowa City. He said, “You don’t expect to see that here, do you?”

He’s right. You don’t. I don’t expect to see that here … or maybe I simply don’t want to see it here. I don’t want to be reminded that hunger exists right here – right under my nose – in my town – in my neighborhood – perhaps even in my church.

But even if all that had sunk in, I don’t know that I would have made the effort that woman did. To actually stop – get out of my car – go into a restaurant – pay money – and then cross three lanes of heavy traffic to give the man something to eat? I wouldn’t have done it.

And that thought convicted me.

Summer. It’s a time of vacations, family time, and relaxed and carefree living. But even in summer the needs of the world and the needs of our own communities continue. They never stop. I may want to turn away or close my eyes or look elsewhere … but I can’t.

And here’s why.

“Then then the righteous will answer him, ‘Lord, when was it that we saw you hungry and gave you food, or thirsty and gave you something to drink? And when was it that we saw you a stranger and welcomed you, or naked and gave you clothing? And when was it that we saw you sick or in prison and visited you?’’ And the king will answer them, ‘Truly I tell you, just as you did it to one of the least of these who are members of my family, you did it to me.’” (Matthew 25:37-40)

Friends, God’s call is a lifetime call.

It is a call to open our eyes and see the world as God sees it - with its beauty and its hurts, with its good and its bad, with its abundance and its hunger.

And it’s a call to respond to all that we see, not just when it’s convenient, not just when we have the time, not just when it won’t interfere with our already scheduled lives, but every day and at every moment.

I truly pray each of us has taken time for Sabbath and renewal through these summer months. That’s an absolutely essential part of balancing our lives.

And yet … I also pray that we might never close our eyes to the needs around us and the ways God is calling us to love and to serve.

So, let’s be fearless in our serving! Let’s be bold in our loving! Let’s be willing to put ourselves out – for the sake of others – for the sake of God – and for the sake of the world.

Bishop Deb