Destination.Unknown
I spent the week in San Francisco and serving the homeless this week. We were challenged to write our prayer for this trip as a poem… So here we go.
With pedal to the metal and rubber to the road
We climb the coast, destination unknown.
Like blind leading the blind
We stumble and trip down broken side walks in this foreign land.
The culture of these streets
Emanates through shops and smells so sweet.
Tripping and falling
Snapping and clapping
We arrive on the front porch of this destination unknown.
Woe is me for We have just began to see the face of the Lord.
And there was evening and morning the first day…
Reimagine, Reinvent, Rediscover, Redream.
Resonate says Mark atop the highest of highs.
City streets buzzing with stories and lives painted on walls.
Shops churning with culture and tasty treats.
Conversations with new friends open new doors as we hunt for our Creator’s face to appear in his Creation.
The Castro
The Mission
The Market
All different faces… All the same face.
This city screams for diversity while it all silently points to the same God.
And there was evening and morning the second day…
“Youth on a Mission!” Lee proclaims as he sips from his hazelnut coffee.
And back to the crazy conversation that began with a Styrofoam cup.
Each cup opening a new conversation as we cover one block
Each cup revealing brokenness in my life as well as theirs.
Each cup asking questions that come from the lips of San Francisco’s forgotten Platos and Socrates!
Questions I will wrestle with forever.
And there was evening and morning the third day…
City Impact dressed to the nines open their doors to the homeless.
Sing a song
Read a Psalm
And POOF!
Here is what they came for!
Coffee and pastries never smelt like bribe before.
What happened to John 1:14 where Jesus comes just to hang out.
Have we forgotten that community means more than a donut?
Have we forgotten that love means more than coffee?
Are we missing the mark as we applaud ourselves for a justifiable bulls eye?
And there was evening and morning the fourth day…
Night in Ashbury
Strike on Haight
We don’t use the word “if”
Lets make things straight.
From victory we pray life into the darkness that governs these streets.
As ham sandwiches and beanies open doors the Holy Spirit begins to speak.
A new brother in Christ affirms my path
And a friendship is made through a mutual past.
This strike won’t soon be forgotten.
This night in Haight Ashbury will forever live in Polaroid’s taken by these eyes.
And there was evening and morning the fifth day…
And oh, how he loves us oh, oh how he loves us, how he loves us oh,
From the lips of God’s children living in the park.
These men’s testimonies offer hope to the gospel of free food.
They have picked up their mats and are walking to the rhythm of God’s heart beach for this city.
HOT SOUP, FREE FOOD!
And from the earth’s doorstep come those in search of something much greater than a full stomach.
Might I suggest love?
And God’s heart beat beats.
And these 15 men continue to walk day in and day out in hopes of yet another to join them in their efforts.
And there was evening and morning the sixth day…
God rested on the seventh day and so shall I.
Fresh crab and bread howls in the Warf fill our tanks to take on the last day.
As Golden Gates whisper from a distance that we will soon be missed.
I can’t tell if Ghirardelli is bitter sweet or if my emotions have kidnapped these taste buds as I pack for home.
One last visit to Phil’s.
One last devotional with Jesus.
One last cup of San Franciscan coffee.
Lights out
Eyes closed
And our brains silently scream as we try and process what just happened.
How can we take this week home?
How can the face of God on these streets change our comfortable lives?
How can I pop this Christian bubble I have created to begin to love those whom have fallen between the cracks?
And there was evening and morning…
God’s mourning
God’s mourning heart
God’s mourning heart for all of his people who are broken on the streets.
God’s mourning heart for the prodigal sons to return home.
God’s mourning heart for the lost to be found and the blind to see
For Woe is me, for I am ruined for now I’ve seen the Lord here on the streets of Destination.Unknown
-Billy
