Clearpath.Life
  • Home
  • Prayers & Psalms
    • Prayers & Psalms

      All Singing – A Movement Meditation

      November 15, 2019

      Prayers & Psalms

      Prayer and Meditation

      November 1, 2019

      Prayers & Psalms

      A Prayer for the Vulnerable

      May 7, 2019

      Prayers & Psalms

      5 Weekly Prayers to Practice During Lent

      March 14, 2019

      Prayers & Psalms

      12 HAIKU Meditations For the Delicately Deliberate

      June 7, 2018

  • Stories
    • Stories

      Servant Series: LARA LANPHIER, DANCING MISSIONARY

      May 30, 2019

      Stories

      Servant Series: SUZANNE WALLACE, DIRECTOR OF LOVING PEOPLE

      May 24, 2019

      Stories

      Servant Stories: THE THOMPSON’S FOSTER-TO-ADOPT JOURNEY

      May 7, 2019

      Stories

      Intrusions of Grace: LESSONS FROM AN UBER DRIVER

      February 7, 2019

      Stories

      Artist Spotlight: BRIAN HALL, ARTIST & SONGWRITER

      November 14, 2018

  • Text
    • Text

      The First “Friendsgiving”?

      November 28, 2019

      Text

      Taking it for Granted

      April 11, 2019

      Text

      Jesus, Royal Servant: THE PARADOX OF SERVANTHOOD

      April 4, 2019

      Text

      Film Analysis: THE REVENANT and the Redemption of…

      March 28, 2019

      Text

      Transactional vs. Relational Repentance: ASH WEDNESDAY

      March 6, 2019

  • Art
    • Art

      The First “Friendsgiving”?

      November 28, 2019

      Art

      All Singing – A Movement Meditation

      November 15, 2019

      Art

      Good Friday – Christ’s Passion on Display: A…

      April 19, 2019

      Art

      Thursday of Mysteries – Jesus, the Passover Punching…

      April 18, 2019

      Art

      Film Review: UP, A Discovery of Grief

      November 7, 2019

  • About
    • The Why
    • The Team
    • Clearpath Dallas
  • Store

Clearpath.Life

  • Home
  • Prayers & Psalms
    • Prayers & Psalms

      All Singing – A Movement Meditation

      November 15, 2019

      Prayers & Psalms

      Prayer and Meditation

      November 1, 2019

      Prayers & Psalms

      A Prayer for the Vulnerable

      May 7, 2019

      Prayers & Psalms

      5 Weekly Prayers to Practice During Lent

      March 14, 2019

      Prayers & Psalms

      12 HAIKU Meditations For the Delicately Deliberate

      June 7, 2018

  • Stories
    • Stories

      Servant Series: LARA LANPHIER, DANCING MISSIONARY

      May 30, 2019

      Stories

      Servant Series: SUZANNE WALLACE, DIRECTOR OF LOVING PEOPLE

      May 24, 2019

      Stories

      Servant Stories: THE THOMPSON’S FOSTER-TO-ADOPT JOURNEY

      May 7, 2019

      Stories

      Intrusions of Grace: LESSONS FROM AN UBER DRIVER

      February 7, 2019

      Stories

      Artist Spotlight: BRIAN HALL, ARTIST & SONGWRITER

      November 14, 2018

  • Text
    • Text

      The First “Friendsgiving”?

      November 28, 2019

      Text

      Taking it for Granted

      April 11, 2019

      Text

      Jesus, Royal Servant: THE PARADOX OF SERVANTHOOD

      April 4, 2019

      Text

      Film Analysis: THE REVENANT and the Redemption of…

      March 28, 2019

      Text

      Transactional vs. Relational Repentance: ASH WEDNESDAY

      March 6, 2019

  • Art
    • Art

      The First “Friendsgiving”?

      November 28, 2019

      Art

      All Singing – A Movement Meditation

      November 15, 2019

      Art

      Good Friday – Christ’s Passion on Display: A…

      April 19, 2019

      Art

      Thursday of Mysteries – Jesus, the Passover Punching…

      April 18, 2019

      Art

      Film Review: UP, A Discovery of Grief

      November 7, 2019

  • About
    • The Why
    • The Team
    • Clearpath Dallas
  • Store
0
Text

“They Hate Us”: ENCOUNTERS WITH THE HOMELESS ON A DADDY DAUGHTER DATE

written by Jordan Sutton January 31, 2018
“They Hate Us”: ENCOUNTERS WITH THE HOMELESS ON A DADDY DAUGHTER DATE

They hate us.

That’s what she said, the lady standing by the bathroom door.

I was on a date with my five-year-old daughter, Eden. We went to Chuck E. Cheese, a movie which she decided half-way through was altogether unimpressive so we left. We decided to switch plans and walk around downtown Dallas spending some time at a park. After running and playing hide-and-go-seek with the ferocity only Eden can muster, she needed to go pee. We walked over to the bathroom that was in the park, and as I walked up, the lady living on the street told me,

“That bathroom is closed.

They hate us.”

This statement worked on me at several levels. I think it evoked a place of empathy and also a place of indignation if I’m honest. I stopped and asked myself the question, do they really hate you? Who is they anyway? Am I they?

As we stood there, the woman quickly hurried away, and another woman told me to take my daughter across the street to the nice restaurant. She said, “They’ll let you in.”

She was very kind, but her tone implied that they would trust me to take my daughter in their restaurant, even though the same hospitality wouldn’t be shown to her.

These quick moments of simple, but fairly deep encounters with the complexity of poverty had me thinking.

Part of me wanted to sit down and have a conversation with the lady and assure her they don’t hate you…don’t allow yourself to be a victim. Part of me could actually see why she felt that way. Over time, there would be a mounting pile of evidence that would make her case: the bathrooms unavailable to her, the people quickly and cautiously walking by. Life from her vantage point would be: no one cares and I’m not valuable.

When I walked into the restaurant, I was again conflicted. I understood why an owner wouldn’t allow homeless people to continually go in and out of their restaurant. Surely that liberty could get abused. Then another part of me felt guilty that the hostess so quickly showed me the way to the bathroom so that my daughter could finally go pee (which at this point was clear she had to GO).

So Eden went into the bathroom and came out excited with a renewed sense of energy to tackle any further ensuing events in our night out.

In light of this renewed energy, we decided to walk down the street to see a bizarre bit of art in Dallas, a giant eyeball sitting on a lawn. When we got there, Eden let me know after observation that this eyeball was quite certainly the eyeball of Jesus. I refrain from trying to convince her otherwise as I knew it would be a futile attempt.

Finally, skipping back to our car, a man asked us for money. He quickly said, “I’m sorry. I don’t want to be interrupting what you’re doing. I know you’re with your daughter.” I told him I had no money, and for a moment, we exchanged some conversation. I decided to stop and sit down just to get to know the man.

His name was Simeon. Simeon was very pleasant and articulate. He shared about his history almost qualifying for me that he was a decent person who had done well in seasons of his life. Of course in my mind, I’m thinking, you don’t have to qualify for me—we all have ups and downs. As the conversation progresses, we share our mutual experiences of loneliness and rejection.

In this moment, it’s as if we can both see that although our circumstances are different, some of our desires and fears are really similar. Simeon began to share how no one stops to talk, listen or even care—and thanks me for talking to him. I guess he thought this was an inconvenience to me, but I actually enjoyed listening to his story and valued my time with him.

Before we left, I gave him my number and prayed for him briefly. I told him to call me if he needed a friend. He began crying—because of such a simple, brief interaction.

God is present in the love of our listening.

As I walked away, I became thoughtful of the reality that I am no hero, and maybe heroes aren’t exactly what we need. I mean, maybe some changes can be made just to help the woman not feel that the world hates her.

But, I don’t think it’s just about the societal or even personal solutions that we come up with. Maybe, it’s about small faithful moments of love demonstrated over long periods of time. And maybe, more than anything, people need to experience the presence of God in the presence of another.

Could the act of listening be so profound as to restore some sense of value or worth?

As I laid down with Eden to go to bed that night, we decided to pray for Simeon. I explained that he didn’t have a place to sleep in the cold that night, and he only had one blanket even as she was tucked cozily in her bed with piles of mermaids and Moana’s.

She asks me one question.

“Why can’t he sleep with us tonight?”

No answer that comes to my mind seems to satisfy the simple logic of her love.

Why can’t he sleep with us tonight?

 

Photo Cred: Randy Jacob

Share this:

  • Twitter
  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Email
daddy daughter dateDallashomelesshomelessnessJordan Sutton
0 comment
3
Facebook Twitter Google + Pinterest
Jordan Sutton
Jordan Sutton

Husband to Andrea, Dad to Grace, Eden & Judah Spiritual Director of ClearPath Church in Dallas, TX Co-Director of Clearpath.life

previous post
Broken is Beautiful
next post
The Incarnation: GOD PRESENT AND PARTICIPATING WITH HUMANITY

You may also like

The First “Friendsgiving”?

November 28, 2019

Taking it for Granted

April 11, 2019

Jesus, Royal Servant: THE PARADOX OF SERVANTHOOD

April 4, 2019

Film Analysis: THE REVENANT and the Redemption of...

March 28, 2019

Transactional vs. Relational Repentance: ASH WEDNESDAY

March 6, 2019

Intrusions of Grace: LESSONS FROM AN UBER DRIVER

February 7, 2019

8 Meditative Prayer Postures to Experience Presence

January 24, 2019

On Waiting…

January 17, 2019

Everyday Monasticism: A CALL TO THE ABIDING LIFE

January 10, 2019

Film Analysis: Hope in SHAWSHANK REDEMPTION

March 1, 2019

Leave a Comment Cancel Reply

Connect

Facebook Twitter Instagram Spotify

Instagram

No images found!
Try some other hashtag or username

Tweets

The First “Friendsgiving”? https://t.co/iSvbUpvwHZ https://t.co/YlrEQt5XHS

28-Nov-2019

Reply Retweet Favorite
All Singing – A Movement Meditation https://t.co/uCkDHXHdoD https://t.co/f2eAbsh7Cj

15-Nov-2019

Reply Retweet Favorite
Film Review: UP, A Discovery of Grief https://t.co/xMz7ezq4nv https://t.co/tNex8xFLIP

07-Nov-2019

Reply Retweet Favorite
Prayer and Meditation https://t.co/UwUOmQ2IgM https://t.co/IMOuuQf1gt

01-Nov-2019

Reply Retweet Favorite
Servant Series: LARA LANPHIER, DANCING MISSIONARY https://t.co/IoLgusS53o https://t.co/zdgWQ6jRgS

30-May-2019

Reply Retweet Favorite

Popular Posts

  • Rethinking Hell: MY JOURNEY THROUGH DOUBT AND FAITH

  • Artist Spotlight: YA’KE DISCUSSES FILM AND FAITH

  • ClearPath.Life in 50 Seconds

  • I Am Repenting: A PASTOR’S INDIFFERENCE TO THE OPPRESSED

Join Our Newsletter

Subscribe for our Newsletter for new articles, stories & media. Join our table of conversation!

Categories

  • Art (42)
  • Featured (9)
  • Popular (4)
  • Prayers & Psalms (9)
  • Stories (11)
  • Text (62)

Stay in the Know!

Subscribe for our Newsletter for new articles, stories & media. Join our table of conversation!

  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Instagram
  • Spotify
Footer Logo

Developed by Runway Advisors

loading Cancel
Post was not sent - check your email addresses!
Email check failed, please try again
Sorry, your blog cannot share posts by email.