Dec 17, 2022·edited Dec 17, 2022Liked by Steve Robinson
One day at my church we celebrated the Feast of the Protection of the Theotokos, a secondary feast of my parish. At the end, my priest gave a short homily explaining that that the Theotokos loves when we help people in need and that "as we go about our day we might encounter someone in need and that we should honor the Theotokos by helping that person." So I left the church, drove to the nearest gas station to fuel up and right in front of me - i kid you not - a schizophrenic man was digging through the trash for food. I ask him if he was hungry. Yes. Would he like something to eat. Yes. I told him to go into the market an pick something out. He got a sandwich and chips. I asked if he wanted coffee. No, he already had a coffee that morning. He didn't want any more than he actually needed in that moment. It was a beautiful experience.
I can relate to her story, and your story. Having been homeless and homed with someone asking for help. It is our 'american way' that makes the cynicism so troublesome. I've been homeless, and I've been (and sometimes still can be) cynical.
There is a schizophrenic man who has been coming to my parish for over twenty years. He was once married to the daughter of an Orthodox priest. They had two kids together. Both he and his wife were drug addicts. She eventually got a divorce, probably decided to get clean and raise her kids, but don't know the details. Anyway, he remained an addict and has lived mostly on the street off and on in our area over the past two decades. He has come and gone over the years, disappearing and reappearing, time and again. He is always welcomed. We always do our best to help him with basic needs when he asks. When he gets his monthly shot on time, he stays reasonably stable. He currently claims to be drug-free for almost a year, it's hard to say for sure if this is true. Someone in my parish told me he OD 6 months ago and almost died. It's impossible to know if anything he says is true and it's impossible to know if he knows if what he says is true. That parishioner told me that this man may very well believe what he is telling us. Since I have gotten involved in helping this man, I have tried to educate myself about schizophrenia so at least I know what I am dealing with, so I don't have unreasonable expectations. One of the things I have learned is that they cannot form close relationships because the dopamine reward center in the brain that is needed for this is absent. They also lack executive function, i.e. the ability to plan for the future. He is incapable of managing money, so we try to only get him the things he needs. I am currently the go-between for parishioners who buy him gift cards to local restaurants. I give him a few per week on an as needed basis. He was just given a place in a half-way house (prefab mobile units) type of set up so he is out of the elements for the winter. He has had his own apartment in the past multiple times, but apparently it is always a total disaster because he will end up destroying the place. Some people in my church feel like he uses us and is just scamming for the next dollar. But when I watch him in Church, I get the sense that there is more to this man than meets the eye. He knows the services by heart, when to stand, when to cross himself, the Creed, the Lord's Prayer. He always takes holy communion when present. I think God sends us these kinds of people to test us and to keep us humble. This man will alway be sick. He will always need help. He will never be able to pull himself up by the bootstraps and get it together. We are simply asked to give, not to judge how the gift is used, and not to examine if our giving has made any kind of long term difference. We are simply to give without expectation.
One day at my church we celebrated the Feast of the Protection of the Theotokos, a secondary feast of my parish. At the end, my priest gave a short homily explaining that that the Theotokos loves when we help people in need and that "as we go about our day we might encounter someone in need and that we should honor the Theotokos by helping that person." So I left the church, drove to the nearest gas station to fuel up and right in front of me - i kid you not - a schizophrenic man was digging through the trash for food. I ask him if he was hungry. Yes. Would he like something to eat. Yes. I told him to go into the market an pick something out. He got a sandwich and chips. I asked if he wanted coffee. No, he already had a coffee that morning. He didn't want any more than he actually needed in that moment. It was a beautiful experience.
I can relate to her story, and your story. Having been homeless and homed with someone asking for help. It is our 'american way' that makes the cynicism so troublesome. I've been homeless, and I've been (and sometimes still can be) cynical.
There is a schizophrenic man who has been coming to my parish for over twenty years. He was once married to the daughter of an Orthodox priest. They had two kids together. Both he and his wife were drug addicts. She eventually got a divorce, probably decided to get clean and raise her kids, but don't know the details. Anyway, he remained an addict and has lived mostly on the street off and on in our area over the past two decades. He has come and gone over the years, disappearing and reappearing, time and again. He is always welcomed. We always do our best to help him with basic needs when he asks. When he gets his monthly shot on time, he stays reasonably stable. He currently claims to be drug-free for almost a year, it's hard to say for sure if this is true. Someone in my parish told me he OD 6 months ago and almost died. It's impossible to know if anything he says is true and it's impossible to know if he knows if what he says is true. That parishioner told me that this man may very well believe what he is telling us. Since I have gotten involved in helping this man, I have tried to educate myself about schizophrenia so at least I know what I am dealing with, so I don't have unreasonable expectations. One of the things I have learned is that they cannot form close relationships because the dopamine reward center in the brain that is needed for this is absent. They also lack executive function, i.e. the ability to plan for the future. He is incapable of managing money, so we try to only get him the things he needs. I am currently the go-between for parishioners who buy him gift cards to local restaurants. I give him a few per week on an as needed basis. He was just given a place in a half-way house (prefab mobile units) type of set up so he is out of the elements for the winter. He has had his own apartment in the past multiple times, but apparently it is always a total disaster because he will end up destroying the place. Some people in my church feel like he uses us and is just scamming for the next dollar. But when I watch him in Church, I get the sense that there is more to this man than meets the eye. He knows the services by heart, when to stand, when to cross himself, the Creed, the Lord's Prayer. He always takes holy communion when present. I think God sends us these kinds of people to test us and to keep us humble. This man will alway be sick. He will always need help. He will never be able to pull himself up by the bootstraps and get it together. We are simply asked to give, not to judge how the gift is used, and not to examine if our giving has made any kind of long term difference. We are simply to give without expectation.