Now That's Freedom (at the hem of a garment)

This is De'Amon Harges, the Roving Listener for Broadway and the Mapleton Fall Creek Development Corporation. De'Amon sat down to talk with me at the end of last week. And, as usual, I came away aware once again that here in the midst of this low-income neighborhood our cup overflows! I think again about what Helen Keller wrote in her collection of essays I recently read -- that sight doesn't have a lot to do with the capacity of our eyes...but with our recognition of what is before, around and within us. De'Amon has been doing his "Roving Listening" for a little over six months now. A few months ago, as winter was ending, he told me that of the 170 plus folks he had interviewed over 50 of them are gardeners! Many people have talked with me about community gardens - what they fail to notice is that community gardens abound -- in peoples back yards and side yards and front yards. Our cup overflows.

This time De'Amon tells me that he is more and more running across people who tell him that they love to fish. Hmmm. Our cup overflows. What do we do with that? If nothing else, perhaps, invite our "fishing folk" together and ask 'em what they see and what if anything they would like to do that they aren't already doing. And what, if anything, is getting in their way.

De'Amon also tells me that he has just met a neighbor named David Cunningham who lives over on New Jersey Street just a few blocks away from him (and me, for that matter). David Cunningham is an artist who specializes in Still Life painting – and he recently won a very prestigious award. Just another reminder that our cup runneth over.

This neighborhood is a place that often is seen as a "Bad" neighborhood -- but man, oh man, oh man, our cup runneth over. There is such an abundance in this place... the biggest frustration is trying to keep up with it.

As I started to write this piece I was preparing for worship on Sunday and reading the Gospel lesson from Mark about the woman with the hemorrhages for 12 years, who has spent every last nickel (or shekel) on doctors. In verse 27 it begins from there,

"She had heard about Jesus and came up behind him in the crowd and touched his cloak, for she said, 'If I but touch his clothes, I will be made well.' Immediately her hemorrhage stopped; and she flet in her body that she was healed of her disease. Immediately aware that power had gone forth from him, Jesus turned about in the crowd and said, 'Who touched my clothes?' And his disciples said to him, 'You see the crowd pressing in on you, how can you say, 'Who touched me?' He looked all around to see who had done it. But the woman, knowing what had happened to her, came in fear and trembling, fell down before him, and told him the whole truth. He said to her, 'Daughter, you faith has made you will; go in peace, and be healed of your disease.'"

As De'Amon and I talked I remembered that at Pentecost last year Ellie had said that one of her dreams (she is a public school teacher) is that there would be a decent grocery store in this neighborhood. I can't count the number of times people who live around here have told me the same thing. I thought of that because De'Amon told me that one of the other people he had talked with this week was a man who I recently married here at Broadway who owns a restaurant downtown. His name is Matt. He told De’Amon he wanted to open a grocery store in this neighborhood.

All of a sudden I wondered if any of these pieces could come together. Matt wants to open a grocery store, neighbors want a grocery store, neighbors are gardeners as well as fisher folk, Ellie wants to be helpful to a grocery store coming in here, the Development Corporation is developing a strategic plan. Maybe these things are coming together! After more than 12 years of people wanting to have a decent grocery store – and spending all of their money on places that are lousy…and finding no healing -- maybe something can happen here. Perhaps it is partly through the ministry of this church – through the church, through De'Amon, recognizing these voices as the actions of the woman touching the hem on the garment of Jesus.

That is what De’Amon is doing – he is providing us the opportunity to touch the hem of the garment. For too often we have just thrown up our hands in despair. Others have said – “you can’t do anything…don’t even try. It’s not worth it.” I think of how easy it is, like the disciples, to not see this abundance that is around us, to not be paying attention to where hands are reaching out to touch the hem of the garment.

The crowd that presses in is our busyness...our not paying attention -- or not seeing as Helen Keller would say. Maybe this is too much of a stretch.

As we get close to July the 4th I think that woman experienced her healing as freedom. That freedom is there for us along it

Freedom – true freedom leads to healing…that was possible all along – it just takes us reaching out our hands. And it takes us paying more attention than the disciples did to the hands reaching to touch the hem of Jesus' garment.

Real freedom lies there -- in the recognition of the power that is present in our shared life together. In our acting together on that power. I don't know what will happen around here -- but I'm encouraged by the story.