Proclaim Justice: A Day of Service

Saturday was our long-awaited day of service; our Proclaim Justice Day.  The logistics of transporting 30,000 Lutherans over three days to thousands of sites throughout the city is a task whose demands go beyond my imagination.  As with any large scale invasion, our good works assault did not go without any snaffus.  Day one's launches were slow to get out.  Some groups were told to arrive at Hart Plaza at 10:45 only to be sent away by mid-afternoon because of transport issues, or miscommunication.  But this was the vast exception.  On day two, the first launch at 8:45 got inundated with rain.  And I do mean HEAVY rain.  Some sites were a washout as outdoor activities were planned.  I hoped that by day three - with favorable wether - we may enjoy the fruits of a little practrice on the part of those responsible for these experiences.  My hopes were not only fulfilled, but we had as good an experience as anyone on the entire trip.  

We were among those launched early on bus 53 (there were hundreds).  By 9:30 we were on our bus and by 9:45 we had arrived at our site.  No one told me or any other member of our party what we were to do until Megan, our servant companion told us en route.  We were to reclaim a sidewalk next to a neglected private lot.  This lot took up an entire block.  Upon arrival, there was nothing that made it look like there was anything but a grass path to work with. Upon some archaeological-like digging, hoeing, scraping and pulling, a cement sidewalk was discovered, though.  The thatch, roots garbage and filth were so deep that in the first two hours two buses full of people made little progress.  

It was 94 degrees, by the way.  The heat index was 104.  A girl from a congregation in Alexandria, MN went down with heat exhaustion.  I drank seven bottles of water throughout the day and never had to use the porta-potty once.  After our lunch on the bus (which was food tht could only be consumed when truly hungry) we hit our stride in the afternoon.  Talking and picture taking took a back seat to the grimy work of hauling the blanket of filth away uncovering a walkway.  But as 2:30 approached it became clear that we wouldn't finish the entire block.  Some were asking whether we could stay longer to make sure it gets done.  Remember... it was miserably hot.  

That's when the bobcat showed up.  A landscaper down the street saw all the orange shirts working so hard and decided to drive down to our site.  In 20 minutes, he finished what would have taken us hours.  It was left for us to simply sweep up.  

Now, one could have looked at this development cynically.  "Well, what took us hours, this guy does in a few minutes."  But this guy wouldn't have come had we not been there.  He had driven past this overgrown lot dozens of times and done nothing.  But today, he put his bobcat to work.  The guy across the street who ran a car detailig shop hadn't attended to his vegetation all year.  Some was ten feet tall.  While we cleaned up the ugliest eyesore in the neighborhood, he came out to weed-whack his own property.  Oh, and he went to the store and bougt 8 cases of water for us, too.  We drank it all.  Nearby, two women hung out a window watching us.  They went over to the fire station across the street and asked the fireme to open a hydrant for us.  They were happy to oblige.  

Our presence in that neigborhood did not, in the end, do that much to the physical appearance of anything.  We did make the daily walk for students on their way to school a little safer as we got rid of a lot of glass.  And people on their way to the bus have a nicer walk, too.  But next year at this time, that thatch and garbage may have all returned.  But the spirit of cooperation, the concern we showed and the outpouring of community interaction that happened will never go away.  Community happened through our humble efforts. Christ was there.  

We were tired.  So we went back to our hotel and slept.  And showered.  And then we ate LOTS of pizza. It was a good day.  

At the last night's main event at Ford Field we heard from a number of people around the theme of Breaking Chains.  This was a night mean tto name the ways indivudality can be looked down upon.  All the ways that  te world says we aren't enough are untrue.  God doesn't make mistakes.  No one needs to dwell in uncertinty about whether hey are loved.  But the kids were most taken with the main musical act: Skilet.  

Skillet is a heavy metal Christian band whose lead singer scream into the microphone with every phrase.  How his voice hangs in there is a mystery to me; perhaps it's the Holy Spirit at work as his message does get through to a segment of our kids who otherwise may thing the rest of the music is terrible.  Anyway, I think I can still hear out of my left ear.

As we went to sleep last night we named the fact that this is our last night in Detroit.  Before we know it, we'll be back home.  We started to think about how to make the transition.  And we prayed for the person to the left os us after getting in a circle.  We gave thanks to God for the humor, the peristence, the open-heartedness of the person next to us.  It was beautiful.  It was a good-ol-day for these kids and for the adults that got to come along.