rollin' up the sleeves

Every once in a while we just get into a mess. No one knows what to do and people just stand around hoping everything will sort itself out.

One of the streets which the 174 Trust's mini-bus must go down while making the after school pick-ups is incredibly narrow. It's the kind of street I was told I'd find in Ireland. You've got to be methodical about when you get there and where you park if you're even going to venture down it. You hope that all of the grades don't get out at the same time because the resulting mass of children rushing out to the vehicles all at once will be the perfect storm.

As a walked back to the bus with the child we had picked up, I noticed the street looked especially crowded. I shrugged it off and we got into the vehicle. Usually this is sorted out by a nice alternating system where a few cars going one direction go through, then a few going the other way and then repeating this process. But after sitting in the vehicle for a few minutes and noticing that none of the cars up the street had gone anywhere, it was obvious something wasn't quite right. Yet, no one was doing anything about the mess!

It was at this point that Pat, the do-it-all guy at the 174 Trust who also drives the mini-bus, got out and walked up the street to check the mess out. It turned out that a lady's car had died right in the middle of the street and in her confusion, not knowing what to do, she just sat in the car. Compounded with that was the fact that a humongous garbage truck was trying to make it down this tiny street. But Pat rolled up his sleeves, got the dead car pushed out of the way, and then directed traffic through in a manner that would then allow the garbage truck to somehow make it down the street. He rushed back to the mini-bus so we could jump in the queue going through and get out of there.

 

Looking back, this mess that we were in was in no way Pat's fault. But he didn't stand by and watch. He took some initiative and got it sorted out. This is a great illustration for what we are called to do as Christians in this world. Sort things out. We've stood by far too long simply because we didn't cause the problems and they weren't affecting us. But the problems are affecting God's creation so we must be forces of change. Matthew 25 says we have to feed the hungry, invite in the stranger, clothe the naked, and visit the sick and imprisoned. We might not have caused poverty. We certainly didn't cause many diseases that exist. But we're obligated because of our faith to sort out these messes. Not halfheartedly by throwing the man on the street a few coins but by taking him to dinner. By feeding him because he's hungry.

It's tougher to do than it is to write but when we roll up our sleeves and get down to business, we can change the world, even if it's for just one person.