Today has been very interesting, filled with ups and downs. It’s hard to believe my time here is halfway over. I spent the morning making recommended changes to the survey that I am going to start next week and went and visited the DC housing authority.
The day became interesting when Michael, the local neighbor who occasionally comes over was outside playing with the granddaughter of the woman who lives next door. I sat and talked with Joyce (my neighbor) while the two kids played. I got to play the djembe with the little girl and we hung out for a little with the boy down the street named Treyshawn, who I often see scootering back and forth aimlessly. He was distributing “his newspaper” to every house on his side of the block. It was old computer paper that he had drawn all over with pictures and scribbles and letters. He told Kaylin (the little girl) and me about the robots, the credit cards, and the zoo; all current events of course.
Treyshawn had to go and see his grandma, who hollered for him, and I do mean holler. Mothers/grandmothers here yell a lot at their children, even when they’re not always mad. This is normal in black culture because people are just louder, which is just different than what is usual for me. I’m a quiet person unless surrounded by my friends or family, so this has taken some getting used to. I think that I’ve become louder and bolder in conversation than I used to be simply by living in this neighborhood. Although, for my other neighbors that are white, most are very quiet and keep to themselves. There’s a lot of fear and misunderstanding between people here. It’s a sad thing when parents are afraid to let their children play in their own streets and enjoy the summer and the outdoors that God created. There aren’t many kids in the neighborhood where I live and I don’t suspect that will change for a while because most people moving in do not have/want children.
When Kaylin went inside I met a man who hangs out at a renter house two doors down named Joelle. He wasn’t homeless, but told me that he had been once or twice. He loved music and we talked about jazz and how much he liked Elvis and all sorts of music. He grew up in DC and spent all of his 51 years here. He spent some of them in a mental hospital, which he told me was because his parents tried to poison him. It became apparent to me in talking with him that he was not all there.
He informed me that Bush was Satanic, selling our country to China. He named countless evangelists and television preachers and told me that they were all of the devil, bringing about “the end times.” He told me he could see spirits throughout DC. There were all sorts of people and things, but he knew and grew up with some of them he told me. He told me he knew the Lord Jesus. Only God himself knows if he does, but I know that Joelle is troubled. He’s given up hope on the world and he’s waiting for Jesus to come back and take him. Seeing people in pain, hurting, homelessness, hopelessness, drugs is sobering and draining. You only need to venture a few blocks from beautiful downtown to encounter this darkness.
There is fear, and hate, and love and misunderstanding in this city. In the words of Martin Luther King Jr., “It would be fatal for the nation to overlook the urgency of the moment.” America is still very much a country plagued with racial problems and we fool ourselves if we think that it is not a relevant, important, or current issue.
As I was thinking and walking earlier in the day I was reminded of a song by Bonnie ‘Prince’ Billy…
“Well you know I have a love, for everyone I know
And you know I have a drive, for life I won’t let go
But sometimes this opposition, comes rising up in me
This terrible imposition, comes blacking through my mind
And then I see a darkness
Oh no, I see a darkness
Do you know how much I love you
Cause I’m hoping some day soon
You’ll save me from this darkness”
I have seen a darkness in this place. It’s all around. I’ve also seen a light in the form of Christ’s love, through the work of local churches and organizations and people battling daily. I know that we all can’t all volunteer or spend our time working with the hurting people, but the souls that I’ve seen here are the same aching souls I’ve seen all around and in every city in America. They need Love in it’s most perfect form: Jesus. Find ways to care. So many people tell me they’re ‘too busy to volunteer.’ And that may be true! …but maybe we should make time.
I am not a pessimist, but a reality check is sobering and reminds me often that we are a sinful and broken people. I pray that Christ comes quickly or continues to give His people the grace to endure and persevere. I hope reading this this doesn’t sadden you too greatly, but this was my day and I thought I would share it.
So that you do not think I am filled with sadness at all times, I am having a wonderful time and my internship has been such a great experience so far. My host is wonderful and this city is so fun to wander and meander through, finding hole-in-the-wall places or to simply admire.
Sobered but full of the hope found in His Gospel,
Chris