9:00pm Bus Tickets

Compassion is not a relationship between the healer and the wounded. It's a relationship between equals. Only when we know our own darkness well can we be present with the darkness of others. Compassion becomes real when we recognize our shared humanity. — Pema Chödrön

Every generous act of giving, with every perfect gift, is from above, coming down from the Creator of lights.  James 1:17a

They need to leave town.  His sister has put them out and they need to get back home to another city.  But they really do not have a home to return to there, either.  A woman and man, both mid-twenties, with a two-year-old son.  No money.  No plan.  Just trying to get through the night.  This hour I need to buy bus tickets for a family I do not really know.

City bus tickets.  Greyhound bus tickets.  How many have I purchased over the years for so many people with no where to go?  No place of their own.  So many with just a vague destination.  A destination that usually reads Anywhere But Here.

I want to help this fractured family get to where they really need to be.  I want to help get them from chaos to stability, from excuses and shame to responsibility and honor.  I want to help transport them from disappointment to joy, from hopelessness to new life.  I want them to be ready to take that journey.  However, that is not possible this hour.  All I can do is get them out of town.

There are hugs, kisses and promises as they exit my van and head inside the bus station.  As I ride home, alone, my tears fall freely.  I am not sure if I really helped anyone tonight.

O Creator, You call us to enter into the lives of our sisters and brothers and simply give what we are able to give.  So many times I want to be the one who rescues and saves, forgetting that is a power only You have.  Guide my actions that I may be present in the lives of others, yet not expect too much of myself.  Remind me, in all situations, that whatever I have to give truly comes from You.

This Hour’s Ponderings

1.  Who needs your help?

2.  How will you discern what you are able to give?

3.  What is it that you are not able to do?

4.  How is The Creator speaking to you this hour of this day?