Meet...Mike

So I spent the last two days helping to replace a hundred feet of sidewalk for a parishioner. Man, concrete work is really demanding (I was going to say "Concrete is hard work" but, well, the pun...you know...) and my back and knees and...frankly, every part of me hurts right now...

(okay, that's not a picture of the actual sidewalk replaced...I forgot my camera, okay?)

But, that's not the important thing. We tried several times to get guys from the church to come out, but the homeowner really wanted it done on weekdays - otherwise there was a pretty steep additional charge for the concrete (most of which she was getting for free from the city as part of what they call the "pridewalk" program) - so that limited the number of people who could help. Most of the women from the church who were able, schedule-wise, to help, didn't feel they could do the work physically... So... that left me and Stan from the church on Monday (Stan is an EMT and all-around great guy who appreciates good, bad and otherwise puns even more than I do). The sum total of Stan's and my experience with concrete was, I think, watching Mythbusters try to use dynamite to clear a concrete truck with a cured load in it. Stan assured me that, and I quote from his email, "While there is no concrete evidence to support my claim, I feel such a project will help cement relations with the homeowner." (Just so you know what the days were like...heh).

Now, it turns out that the homeowner got another neighbor to come and help - actually, since he did have experience, he was instantly chosen foreman and chief sidewalk guy. Mike, as a friend of his said yesterday (we had even MORE help yesterday), is not one to blend into a crowd. He has really long hair and a really, really bushy beard. He's got six kids at home, the youngest had a double ear infection this week.

Mike is a really interesting guy. He told me he was born and raised Mennonite, and will still go to church when he's back home (Philly area) - but he goes to "rock the boat." He said with a smile and a twinkle in his eye, "They don't like me coming to church - 'cause I come in short sleeves." You see, Mike has a cross tatooed on his left forearm - and a nude woman tatooed on his right forearm (never mind what's tatooed on his leg...).

For me, those two tatoos say a lot about this man. You see, Mike works third shift (11 PM to 7 AM) - he comes home from work, takes his kids to school - and then comes to do this sidewalk project - on Monday from 8-4 and on Tuesday from 8-5. He never complained about being tired, in fact, as sore and tired as I am, I will readily admit that Mike worked the hardest of all of us. He never had anything to prove, he knew what he was doing - but was very patient with those of us who...um...didn't know what we were doing. He treated it like a job he was getting paid a hundred bucks an hour to do, even though he wasn't getting a penny.

Yet, he told some really hard to listen to stories - he's pretty opinionated about things like government (local, state, federal - you name it), race, neighbors, his ex-wife. You don't need details...but he supplied them to me in abundance.

I think of Mike as a guy who is straddling the line between the kingdom of this world and the kingdom of God. He clearly understands what Jesus meant when he said, "Love your neighbor as yourself." He clearly has a Kingdom ethic, though he doesn't seem to have a transformed heart. Oh, he's heard the story - he knows who Jesus is - he knows about faith...

One foot in heaven, one foot in this world - or forearms, if you will. When his friend stopped to help (another neighbor) - and his friend said he had just lost his job - Mike was pitching in to help him out, too...

I don't know Mike's heart - I do know some of the fallout in his life right now, some of the circumstances that are working against him. He's near the top of my prayer list now.

God, use Mike as you will, transform him as only you can, let us love him as only we can. Amen...