eric: chapter 1

terry and i have been meeting for lunch biweekly for a few months. we've been sharing similar ideas about how to make our words become flesh. we've decided that we're going to start inviting homeless people to our lunches. we started yesterday. unfortunately, terry beat me to the blog press. i'm gonna give it a go anyways. i feel like the word 'awkward' gets thrown around way too frivolously. so much so that when someone says 'awkward,' or worse- sings 'awkward' (like this: 'aawkworrrrrrd')- the situation actually becomes awkward. it's a self-fulfilling prophecy. if there's ever a time to use the word 'awkward,' it's when you accidentally insult a woman's man hands; but, also when your lunch invitation gets rejected by a homeless guy. i guess it shouldn't feel so, but it does. many, many rejections yesterday. there's some really decent homeless kitchens in town, maybe that's why. as we were about to surrender our plans to the hot dog stand, we found eric. he accepted the invitation with hesitation- "i don't have any money." 'no problem,' i thought...'terry's paying for it!' just kidding, terry. i didn't really think that...or did i? anyways, it's always interesting, to say the least, to hear homeless people's stories. who knows how much is fabricated, but it's a good story either way. eric had a master's degree in business from columbia university. he was in hiding from his ex-wife because he couldn't make child support payments and he feared she'd have him thrown into jail. he didn't hesitate to order a cheeseburger, fries, a large coke, and chips. why not? it's on terry! many nights he spent at a 24-hr duncan donuts. a lot of times homeless people have great community. they seem to know each other real well, play chess together, sleep next to each other, eat together, reject lunch offers together, and share cigarettes. not eric. he seemed so lonely. he didn't really get along with the others. he talked about plans to start a real estate business, but i got the sense that he just made up those plans to keep him going. those empty plans give him something to look forward to. terry and i discussed afterwards about how our efforts, while good, seem so insignificant. i don't know how to break eric's cycle of poverty. eric doesn't know. who's going to hire him? he certainly seemed ambitious, but sometimes that's not enough. eric may have made some really poor choices to put him in his current position, but it's not my place to judge; it's my place to help. no one should have to live like that. while i may not know how to "loose the chains of injustice," i can "share my food with the hungry." we told eric we'd probably see him around again. we also told him that we occasionally sense the need for awkward rejections and make passes by rodney square on sunday mornings to see if anyone wants to go to our church, and he should feel free to accept the offer. hopefully we'll see him again.