Random Thoughts on a Bridge That Is No More (Revisited)

Today marks the eight-year anniversary of the collapse of the old 35W bridge in Minneapolis.  Hard to believe it's been that long.  On this day, I commonly revisit a post I had published on my old blog to reflect on what happened that evening.  Today I wanted to republish that post on this blog as my readership has grown since then.

I don't want to overstate any proximity to the event since through much of the construction I had been avoiding the bridge during rush hour. There are many other's who can claim a much closer call than I, but still when such a disaster strikes a location that is so familiar to you it is hard not to consider the possibility of what could have happened.

It's also strange the random nature of the memories and thoughts that come back to you when a place that has been such a regular part of your life is no longer there. These three stand out in particular.

A weekday evening in Early-July, 2007: It was about 5:00 PM. I missed my normal detour around the construction and ended up in the middle of the slow rush hour flow of the two remaining northbound lanes. It was just after the failed bombing attempts in London and Glasgow and in that moment I had a strange realization of the vulnerability of that situation and how something we take for granted could easily be turned into a place of danger. I said a prayer for safety and quickly put the thought out of my mind until about a month later. Though my thought that day primarily revolved around the possibility of terrorism, it now seems to have been a premonition of what was to come.

About 2:00 PM, August 1, 2007: Ironically I left work early to have my back checked out by my doctor due to a car accident the day before. Again I missed my detour, but the traffic was not as heavy at that time of the day. As I drove across the bridge I looked at the newly laid concrete. Having become weary of all the detours I remember thinking to myself, "Good, it looks like we're making progress toward getting back to normal."
Just over four hours later sitting at home, working through all the paperwork from my own situation, we received a phone call from my mother-in-law to check on us. It was at that moment we would find out that nothing would ever be normal about 35W again.

Evening, August 8, 2007: A week after the collapse my wife and I made our pilgrimage to the river to look at what has happened and somehow connect with this tragedy. As we stand on the Stone Arch Bridge looking down on the destruction, I catch a glimpse of an ambulance crossing the 10th Ave bridge on it's new route from downtown to the east side and it brings my mind back to a much happier memory and the role 35W has played in our lives.

I remembered back to the very first hours of May 19, 2004 as I sat in the back of another ambulance looking at my wife laying there with our newly born daughter who couldn't wait for mom and dad to get her to the hospital to make her appearance. The freeway was very empty at that early hour and the concrete glistened in the glow of the street lights as we rolled across the bridge and up the Washington Ave ramp on our way to HCMC. It was like the whole world had stopped for this special moment and this was Elaina's time in the spotlight. This definitely was a much happier memory and it is the happier memories of this place that I want to hold on to.

Lessons From An AA Meeting

This morning a friend of mine who works daily with friends without homes in Indianapolis invited me to join him at an AA meeting in order to help me better understand the program as I look to get more involved with connecting with those entering recovery programs.  Sitting in a room full of addicts in recovery is always humbling.  It's humbling because the people in that room always seem to understand life better than most of us who live in the "got it all together" world of suburbia.  They realize they're always one bad decision, one drink, from going right back into the same chaotic life that drew them to AA in the first place.  They also know they need each other to keep fighting the battle to stay away from the things that have destroyed their lives in the past.  Many understand that trying to solve their challenges with self-effort will get them nowhere because they realize the challenge is beyond them.

It's long been my conviction that every gathering of the Church needs to be more like an AA meeting than the professional productions we often rely on.  We need teaching.  We need corporate worship.  Still, we also need to be able to communicate as a community of peers sharing our stories and our challenges without fear and without pretense.  Even if alcohol addiction is not the demon that vexes our life, the reality is we're all one bad decision, one sin, away from making a total mess of life.  Some of us may be at the beginning stages of realizing what a mess we had become.  Some of us may have been on the "spiritual sobriety" road for a long time.  Still, we all share these two things in common: we're one bad decision away from chaos and we need each other to stay on the right path.

Today, I was drawn to the "Twelve Traditions Of AA" that were displayed in various forms throughout the room.  These traditions guide how every AA group should operate and how the organization as a whole should function.  As I read them, it seemed to me they were traditions that many of us who lead various faith communities and ministries would benefit from adapting into our own context.  As I read them and as I sat there and listened, I found myself praying "God help me and help Diakonos always live in this way."

What "Home" Are We Living For?

By faith he (Abraham) went to live in the land of promise, as in a foreign land, living in tents with Isaac and Jacob, heirs with him of the same promise. For he was looking forward to the city that has foundations, whose designer and builder is God.... These all died in faith, not having received the things promised, but having seen them and greeted them from afar, and having acknowledged that they were strangers and exiles on the earth. For people who speak thus make it clear that they are seeking a homeland. If they had been thinking of that land from which they had gone out, they would have had opportunity to return. But as it is, they desire a better country, that is, a heavenly one. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, for he has prepared for them a city. Hebrew 11:9 - 10, 13 - 16

Kim Schuster. September 26, 2011.

https://www.flickr.com/photos/timmielee5359/6186047030/

As I've pondered a few recent conversations, I can't help but think of how important the lack of "ownership" in this world is to our ability to serve others.  The quote above is from a section of the Bible often referred to as the Hall of Faith.  It summarizes key points in the lives of people who sought God's purposes above their own and were recognized for having more faith than many of their peers.  They may not have always achieved the perception of being rewarded in this world, but they had their view focussed on another world that had God as it's architect.

Yesterday someone posted in a Facebook community forum a request for people to be on the look out for a vehicle that was involved in a hit-and-run accident with her father.  (Thankfully, her father was fine.)  It was interesting how quickly the conversation in the comments turned to speculation about the socio-economic status of the person who hit her father's car.  Our section of Indianapolis has many upper-middle class neighborhoods, but there are pockets of lower-middle working-class neighborhoods dispersed throughout the area as well.  Posts of this nature are often met with a course of replies about how bad the community is getting as more people from the urban core move here.  I often find myself distressed by these comments, because I know so many good people who feel unwelcomed by this.

As I read through this thread, though, I noticed a trend.  Many of the people complaining about the bad element in our community (one in particular) felt justified in their response because they had experienced loss or knew someone who experienced loss at the hands of another.  When we have experienced loss at the hands of someone who fits a certain stereotype in our mind, it's easy to become jaded in our attitude toward "those people."  The only way to avoid being hardened to others is to have an open-handed attitude toward all possessions.  It's only then that we can fully be open to blessing others even when the risk is high that we may suffer loss in the process.  Otherwise, it's totally understandable to become suspicious of others whenever a problem arises.

Abraham lost much in his quest to fulfill God's purpose of seeing all people groups blessed through his descendents.  He lost his homeland.  He lost contact with most of his family over time.  He lived as a nomad in a land he knew his descendants would eventually posses.  He had items stolen many times.  Still, he walked with grace toward his neighbors, knowing that God had higher purposes in mind.

It takes the perspective of Abraham to keep an open hand toward all our neighbors when we know that there will be times we suffer loss as "reward" for caring.  It takes keeping in our view the realization that our eventual home is a heavenly city "whose designer and builder is God," even as we seek to be fully vested in the community around us for the sake of His purposes.  This requires faith.  And this is not easy.

Getting Beyond the Dogma of Personal Reponsibility

James Tissot [Public domain],
via Wikimedia Commons

Yesterday my friend Robert Charlock submitted a letter to the Indianapolis Star regarding the need for a Homeless Bill of Rights in Indianapolis.  The self-righteous on-line comments of those who assume poverty is usually the result of personal choices quickly emerged: "How many brought this upon themselves? When having a place to live and a job is no longer a priority for oneself, why should we fix their problem?", "So a select group of people need a special 'bill of rights'?", and such.  If you stand with those on the margins, you're sure to encounter the finger pointing of those who espouse the dogma of personal responsibility.

As I read those comments, the story Jesus told of the Rich Man and Lazarus came to mind:

Jesus said, “There was a certain rich man who was splendidly clothed in purple and fine linen and who lived each day in luxury. At his gate lay a poor man named Lazarus who was covered with sores. As Lazarus lay there longing for scraps from the rich man’s table, the dogs would come and lick his open sores.

“Finally, the poor man died and was carried by the angels to be with Abraham. The rich man also died and was buried, and his soul went to the place of the dead. There, in torment, he saw Abraham in the far distance with Lazarus at his side.

“The rich man shouted, ‘Father Abraham, have some pity! Send Lazarus over here to dip the tip of his finger in water and cool my tongue. I am in anguish in these flames.’

“But Abraham said to him, ‘Son, remember that during your lifetime you had everything you wanted, and Lazarus had nothing. So now he is here being comforted, and you are in anguish. And besides, there is a great chasm separating us. No one can cross over to you from here, and no one can cross over to us from there.’

“Then the rich man said, ‘Please, Father Abraham, at least send him to my father’s home. For I have five brothers, and I want him to warn them so they don’t end up in this place of torment.’

“But Abraham said, ‘Moses and the prophets have warned them. Your brothers can read what they wrote.’

“The rich man replied, ‘No, Father Abraham! But if someone is sent to them from the dead, then they will repent of their sins and turn to God.’

“But Abraham said, ‘If they won’t listen to Moses and the prophets, they won’t be persuaded even if someone rises from the dead.’”

Luke 16:19-31

I wonder what the rich man's response was when he walked by Lazerus.  Did he assume Lazarus was where he was in life because he brought this situation on himself?  Or that he no longer considered a place to live and a job a priority?  Given the context and the reference earlier in the chapter to the Pharisees' love of money I wonder if the rich man in this story was the type of man society as a whole viewed as a righteous man.  Perhaps he faithfully performed his religious duties without flaw and would have been considered a prime candidate for paradise by others.  Could he have been one of those Jesus rebuked for being "careful to tithe even the tiniest income from your herb gardens, but you ignore the more important aspects of the law--justice, mercy, and faith"? (Matthew 23:23)  Apparently, God had a different view of the situation.

When we presume that our own prosperity is the result of our own work and other's poverty is the result of their bad decisions or behaviors, we tend to assume others just need to get it together and do the right thing to get out of their situation.  It's easy to assume others deserve the misfortune they experience while we are entitled to the good things we have earned.  Though we cannot totally minimize the role personal decisions may play in a situation, we are on shaky ground if we assume it is not our responsibility to watch out for and care for those experiencing poverty.  God calls on us to care for those who are suffering and stand up for those who are ignored and oppressed.  From the experience of the rich man in the story Jesus told, it appears He considers it a serious matter.  So should we.