I've been going to a new church recently. It is called St. James Urban Presbytarian and it is located in Downtown Denver. My parents met there years ago, but now they stopped attending soon after I was born.


A lot of different kinds of people attend St. James. Many street people, some with long beards, uncombed hair, and an endearing bad teeth smile.


I have started attending here on purpose. I go to school in thes suburbs. I play soccer with the wealthy. So how do I keep in touch with the poor in every sense of the word? I thought to myself, "Maybe I should go to church with them."


Below the room where everyone meets on Sundays is a coffee shop called Network. Many drug addicts, homeless, mentally ill, etc... drop in for some coffee. In better words, many normal people drop in for some coffee. With going to church with these people, I have started to identify with the reality of their plight. However, it is not out of pity. No, for I realize how equally poor and mentally ill I am: I just know how to hide it expertly.

It is compassion, and the recognition that these street people are as complex human beings as you and me, that there is a mind and a heart behind that sign, and more life than we sheltered people (for that's what we are if we have a home) ever give the homeless man credit for.


After wondering and debating about how to show compassion in a Christly way, I have finally found a great way. It is outrageous to most of our groomed minds I know, but I think it is truly the method to be Christ in the US. Here is a link to the site at the Wittenburg Door.


"For I was hungry and you fed me. I was thirsty and you gave me a drink. I was a stranger and you invited me into your home."
Matthew 25:35