M...stopped by to see if we had a tent for the Homeless Sleep Out. Sorry.
T...needed help to get to his Mom's in Pulaski. His Dad died recently and his Mom is not doing well. I helped him get to Pulaski. Does everybody's Mom live in Pulaski? It's a very common story.
S...stopped by worried about his truck. "The battery's dead and I know you wanted it out of here by Monday." We'll store his truck a little longer. Not to worry.
R...called while I was on the phone. I don't know R...and I haven't gotten back to him yet.
Then the pol;ice called, "No, we didn't call the police, sorry."
Walking into the Amos Lounge, S...was having a coffee. I was getting one and she was on the phone. I know her from Hot Dogs in the Kingdom. T-shirt, shorts, and bag of potato chips she was busily eating, she turned from the phone in the Lounge and asked me for $5. "Why do you need $5?" "I'm suicidal." "Oh."
And at that moment a Syracuse Police Officer appeared behind me. His care and compassion for her was excellent. Superior. He asked her name and offered a ride up the hill to St. Joe's. "No, to Upstate," she said. "Do they know you at Upstate?" "Yes." "Is that all you have with you - that bag of chips?" "Yes, the chips." And off they went.
It's noon now, and there has never been a Monday morning like this in the history of the world.
Do you think? Really?
Into what world, I wonder, do I expect the Savior of the world to come? I guess another way to ask the same question is from what mayhem and craziness would God chose to be excluded?
And our God, this God of Monday morning madness, comes at an unexpected hour, so be ready.
Sure, a week without a Monday like this one might be nice, but it would be a fantasy. And you know it's not just about Monday. It's also about the diagnosis on Tuesday or the news on Wednesday, the thrill on Thursday or the all out failure on Friday.
Norman Rockwell painted lovely pictures and Hallmark sells a ton of cards, but often enough the world we live in bears little resemblance. It's this world, and no other, into which the child comes. the King arrives. The Shepherd walks.
And we are called to watch and wait.
This past Monday, maybe I learned again, maybe I learned for the first time, that this extraordinary thing that is about to happen, the Advent of our God, is matched only the extraordinary moment just before it happens.
Advent is the name of that moment.
In the midst of the madness and the mayhem, in the instant the exclamation "Oh God, what next?" becomes the prayerful plea, "Oh God, what's next?" you can feel the beating of your heart as you take a
breath and hold it.
And the world does too. This world and no other.
Peace to all Pastor Craig Herrick +
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