One Cold Tear
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One Cold Tear
I saw it on his cheek. One tear. He seemed distant today. Ray is in pain. His heart breaks.
Ray is my eyes and ears on the street. He is one of my homeless guys I love so much. He is God’s servant to the homeless. Ray takes really good care of the very sick among them. He gives me protection when I am on the street. He runs the clothes closet and he does all the repairs needed with the little supplies and paint they can get their hands on at Common Ground. He is quiet and doesn’t talk much.
I found out a man he had been caring for had died that day. He had been bringing food to his bedside for nearly a year. If he went to the hospital, he visited daily. The man had never left the shelter. Until today. It broke my heart that there was no goodbye for Ray’s friend. No gathering of friends, no casseroles, no flowers. Not even a sympathy card. No one even knew to simply give Ray a hug and sit quietly with him as he cried over his loss. I did find out what happens to the body of someone who has no one. They are buried in a paupers grave 6 deep. No service, no graveside remarks. No grave marker.
People don’t know what to say to someone in pain. My friend Beth, in her pain says ‘God gently pulled my hands away from my heart and said ‘My child, go ahead and feel it. The pain will not kill you. It will be a reminder that you are very much alive, engaged and that you loved with abandon. That was your primary assignment. Your present pain proves you did it.’ The goal of life is not the absence of pain. It’s the presence of glory. God’s glory. And sometimes that comes most vividly with pain.
Ray loves with God’s love. I can only hope to love so simply, so wholly and with abandon as he does. Rays friend died knowing God’s love.
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