Mr. Green

OK, so we're on this journey together to experience the miracle of transformation. For several weeks now, I've been hanging out with some friends in a coffee shop in downtown Houston on Monday nights discussing a few of the spiritual disciplines and working our way through a little book by Henri Nouwen. Last week, I'm wrapping up our talk and drawing some conclusions about the practice of Silence in our spiritual lives. While the practice of the disciplines is very important, I wanted to make sure that our orientation stayed on transformation - not the disciplines themselves.

So, I'm suggesting to our group that it is also important that we look for and expect to see some evidence that transformation is actually taking place. That we are being changed from the inside out. That we are (in reality) becoming more Christ-like...permeated by the love of God. To make this point, I direct our group to a specific paragraph in our books where Nouwen writes, "Silence is primarily a quality of the heart that leads to ever-growing charity. For it is charity, not silence, that is the purpose of the spiritual life and of ministry."

When I looked up from my book, a man was standing on the perimeter of our group. He looked to be homeless. He was disheveled, but didn't seem to present any imminent threat so we asked him to join us. After just a few minutes of conversation, we learned that Mr. Green was living on the streets downtown, had done time in prison for child molestation, was dealing with some painful sores on the inside of his mouth, had visited a few churches but didn't feel welcome at any of them. We explained to Mr. Green that we were regulars at this coffee shop and that he was welcome to join us every week if he wanted. He asked us to pray for him and reached out with both hands - so we all joined hands and prayed for one another. Then he asked if we could help him get some chicken. After a moment of hesitation, I excused myself from our group and Mr. Green and I headed out into a steady rain in search of chicken. Before I left him, I asked him how long it had been since someone told him that they loved him. He couldn't remember the last time he had heard those words. I asked his permission to touch him - which was OK with him. With my hands on his shoulders, I told him that God's love for him had not been diminished in any way by the mistakes he had made in his life; that God's love for us just grows and grows. And that I loved him as well. With tears in his eyes, he walked away into the late rainy night.

I sat up, wide awake the next morning a little before 5:00 a.m. It was one of those eery moments when you wake up and feel like someone is watching you, that there is someone in the room with you. After a moment, I realized I had been awakened by the Holy Spirit. I slipped out of bed and went into my study and sat in the dark. God began to speak deep within my spirit. He was focusing my attention on the timing of Mr. Green's appearance at our table. He brought back to my mind the phrase "ever-growing charity". Somehow, there in the dark, the Father said, "you were using words to describe charity as evidence that transformation is possible, that it is real. I brought Mr. Green to show you that charity is in your heart, that you are no longer just reading from someone else's material. Carry on, there is more to learn and more to do. Love my people, feed my sheep, and lead them to streams of living water."