By Eileen Hanson
As I sit here tonight, a few weeks before I move out of Bethany House, I am reminded of the many blessings I will leave behind in this place.
The doorbell rings, and though the house is quiet, and I am ready for bed. I go to answer the door. It takes me a while, so by the time I open the door, I see a young man riding away on the sidewalk. Noticing me, he turns and asks, “You got anything to eat?”
I’m thinking, “Do we? Yes.” Am I tempted to tell him to come back tomorrow? Yes.
But I don’t. I say, “Why don’t you come on in”. We have more macaroni and cheese than we can eat, maybe this guy was sent here to help us.
As he gets closer to the door, I realize I know this guy. He has stayed here a couple of times. He is deeply troubled, and I’m not even sure he’ll remember me. But, obviously, he remembers this house, and that is the important thing. At 9:30pm, he’s riding around town, hungry and cold and he thinks of this place.
It’s a strange feeling, to be glad that someone rings your doorbell when you’re ready for bed. But really, it’s one of the reasons I have found (still find) this place so hard to leave. When you look out at the world and see what’s going on, it’s easy to feel overwhelmed, like there’s nothing you can do.
Well, here, we don’t have that problem. It is a difficult world. We acknowledge that reality everyday. But there’s almost always something we can do.
This young man told me, after talk of the NBA All-Star game, that he’s back in town for court. I can only think that this young, black, and seriously mentally ill man has little good prospects in the court system. His situation seems daunting. I’m glad I didn’t close the door. And I’m glad we had that macaroni and cheese.
Each day here, often several times a day, we have just such a chance to do something to ease someone’s journey. I didn’t really do much for this guy. The only difficult thing was deciding to be open to the possibility that his visit was a gift. Otherwise all I did was microwave a bowl of noodles and offer him a glass of water.
But just by being present, we can lighten someone’s load.
I think probably regardless of our living situation or place in the world, we always have those opportunities.
Many times, God calls us out of our comfort, calls us to set aside our priorities in order to hear what God has in store.
I have had lots of days to learn and re-learn that I should not try so hard to be in charge of my priorities. Christ comes in the most distressing disguises and it’s often difficult to see these ‘interruptions’ as gifts. Sometimes they just seem like interruptions.
It is hard to imagine moving out of Bethany House. The constant lessons of hospitality and living in faith have been a part of my daily life for so long. Fortunately, I will remain part of the Winona Catholic Worker community, so I’ll have the opportunity for refreshers for a long time to come.