Christ Be With You (Lisa)

A couple years ago on a cold February day I had a thought… I want to do something radical with love, something out of my box for Lent and then this happened: A gentleman was struggling for an unknown reason, crouching, jumping, muttering to himself and laughing uncontrollably at Paneras. He was in camo fatigues and carried a backpack. He looked cold, not clean, tired… but he kept laughing.

My first feeling was empathy buffered with the thought, “At least he’s happy laughing! It’s contagious! It’s making me smile! But, within seconds I realized this isn’t a happy laugh. It’s the kind you can’t stop, like hiccups that begin to hurt or out of control crying that makes your ribs ache.

My quiet questions followed, “Is someone with him? Does he need help? Can he order for himself? Can he speak? Is he destitute?” He walked away and we settled into a booth with our Claire. The man returned and took a seat opposite us.

I was drawn to want to know him. Speak to him. Help him. Love him in some way but how? I smiled a Hello a couple times but then looked away. What if I approached and he was offended at my mistaking his actions and appearance for an intellectual disability that didn’t exist?

God sent his friends from St. Matthew’s church to him and me. It answered my questions. As they joined him at his table and engaged in a conversation his laughing and jerking slowed down. When they parted he thanked them profusely for sharing a meal with him. He said, “It just helps to talk to someone instead of sitting here alone all the time. I think that’s my problem! I sit alone too much and think too much in my head.” Moments after they left his jerking and laughing reappeared.

How could I approach him and keep his dignity intact? I believe God shows himself to us through people around us. I wanted to know Jesus more through this man, but how? God must have heard my prayers. As we stood to leave, I noticed his backpack was there but he was not. I hoped that meeting moment would happen somehow and as I turned my head, he was standing right in front of me, smiling! He said, “I noticed your daughter and she looks pretty happy! Is she doing ok?” The God light in him saw the God light in her. Our conversation and sharing continued! His name is Don, my dad’s name! He is Catholic! He went to St Mark’s and grew up in Fallston, so did I! Turns out my sister Michelle babysat him and he remembered me from Himmer’s store where I worked as a teenager. I remembered him and his family too. He had been in the army and came home and worked maintenance for a while.

He said he’s on a journey and getting himself straightened out and he knows our paths will cross again. I told him I hope they do. I shared with him our church and ministries we offer. I told him I felt so blessed to meet him that it felt like a holy moment. I told him I read that God sent us His son Jesus and named him, Emmanuel which means “God with us”. It was God’s way to teach us to BE WITH someone is to LOVE someone, not preach, or fix or judge, just BE WITH them. I said, I’m a mom of three daughters and I’m working hard on that just WITH thing. I told him it was good to be WITH him and it was!