From Santorini to Shannon
Simply Sunday 05: Dispensing Welcome in a World that Prescribes Walls
It’s Simply Sunday. And while the world continues to offer divisive distractions and increasingly shocking headlines, I invite you to join me here for the next few moments, reflecting on ways we can dispense welcome in a world that prescribes walls.
In this series, I am sharing about several real life encounters with people who have crossed my path in life, and how leaning into our differences with curiosity (instead of putting up a wall and walking away) have enriched my life beyond measure. Not only that, but these encounters have allowed me to continue seeing the people behind the “issues” and feeling a sense of connection to the world far beyond my little bubble.
Allow me to share a story about my friend Shannon…
Years ago, my newlywed husband and I had just returned from the vacation of our dreams in beautiful Santorini, Greece. It was a Monday morning, and I was still jet lagged, as I shuffled out the door on my way to work. I was still dreaming of the iconic whitewashed buildings against that brilliant blue sky on Santorini, still savoring the fresh Greek food we had eaten overlooking the breathtaking Mediterranean sunsets. But now, it was back to reality and back to work.
Years ago, I made it a personal daily practice to ask God each morning to show me opportunities to love my neighbors that day. On this particular day I mumbled this prayer as a habit, and then trudged through my busy work day. Before I knew it, it was time to go home. I breathed a sigh of relief and looked forward to an early bedtime.
As I pulled up to our house and stepped out of my vehicle onto our gravel drive, I heard a voice, "Excuse me...miss??" I turned towards the park across the street to see a woman who was clearly in distress. She hobbled towards me, wheeling her bicycle which was obviously in need of repair. The look on her face and sweat on her brow told me she had been walking for a long time in the heat of the day. "Could you please help me? My bike is broken, and I am so thirsty. Could you spare a cup of water?"
I immediately felt compassion for her. But something deep inside of me was also a little irritated- I was SO close to that afternoon nap I'd looked forward to all day, and now this. Oh well, the least I can do is get her some water...
She sat in the shade on our front porch while I brought her a glass of cold water. "Now what?" I asked God. Learn her story was the answer I felt in my heart. So, I proceeded to ask about her- where she was from, where she was going. I quickly learned that her name was Shannon, she had been biking around town all day, looking for work. Her bike broke down and she was miles from home now. She was discouraged, tired, and hungry. Okay, I can at least give her something to eat. I went inside and got a granola bar and pack of peanut butter crackers for her, which was all I could offer at this point; I hadn’t yet gone grocery shopping upon return from vacation. She was extremely grateful, but she didn’t leave. She continued to sit there and tell me about her life... how she had been in and out of foster care growing up, had felt abandoned, and now was down on her luck. I wanted to pray for her and send her on her way, but a feeling tugging at my heart told me to do more. You asked for a chance to love your neighbors today…Here she is, I felt God saying.
She hadn't asked for money. She was too tired to work, after spending a long day out in the heat. But she had mentioned she needed food. So, with the grocery store only a few blocks away, I offered to take her to get some groceries. We walked to the store, wheeling her broken bike, and she continued to tell me about her life. She walked up and down each aisle of the store, carefully picking out food items, each time asking, "Is this too much? Can I get this too?" I certainly got some funny looks from other shoppers, as this woman and I clearly didn't look like we naturally would be hanging out together; I, still in my professional work clothes, and she, in a baggy t-shirt and ill-fitting shoes. Shannon's face was so full of joy though, with her full sacks of groceries, and I ignored the cashier's questioning look and checked out quickly.
The sun was setting, and I decided it would be safest to call her a taxi to take she and her groceries home. But when the taxi driver arrived, he refused to take her bicycle, and she refused to leave it at the store; it was her only means of transportation. What am I going to do now?! I prayed. You asked me to share Your love in a tangible way with this woman, and I have. Now, I have no way to get her home with all these groceries and a bike...and it's getting dark outside. I scanned the parking lot and saw a woman getting into her van, and again I felt a tug at my heart. Ask her to help. This woman will surely think I'm crazy or that this is some sort of scam. How can I possibly ask her to go out of her way for someone she doesn't know, someone I barely know... But, I reluctantly approached the woman getting into her van and explained my situation. Much to my dismay, she said she would be happy to help, and she offered to help me take Shannon, her bike, and her groceries home.
I thought that was the last I would see of Shannon. But over the next year, Shannon continued to show up at our house from time to time. She never asked for money, but occasionally asked if we had any work she could do. The funny thing is, I began to look forward to her visits. I no longer saw her as a stranger on the streets who was inconveniencing my day; she had become my neighbor.
Shannon called me bubbling with excitement on the day she got a puppy from the local rescue. I checked in on her weekly and advised her on job searching and basic lessons in professionalism. We even worked together to come up with a new voicemail message that she could record on her phone, one that would showcase her bright personality. What began as an unexpected answer to my prayer turned into an unlikely friendship - Shannon, who was born into a world of poverty and abuse, and whose journey had included addiction and mental illness and even prostitution… and me, a young married healthcare professional who was born into a world of privilege. Both of us broken humans in the same world, but each of us from seemingly very different worlds too.
Over the months that followed, God used each encounter with Shannon to teach me about life and His love for people. I confronted my own assumptions about people experiencing homelessness, mental illness, and cycles of poverty and abuse. I learned what it means to truly walk with someone, instead of throwing money at a “problem” and calling it “charity.”
One year after meeting Shannon, we moved across town to another house. We hadn't seen or heard from her in a few months, and I thought about her often. I wondered why I hadn't heard from her or why she no longer answered my calls. Had she fallen back into old habits? Had she moved? Was she even still alive?
Then one Saturday afternoon, there was a knock on the door of our new house. When I opened the door to find Shannon standing there, she looked as shocked to see me as I did to see her! She had been going door to door, looking for work and had somehow ended up on this side of town. She had no idea that we had moved (nor any way to find out) and had landed yet again on our doorstep. We chatted for a while and then gave her a ride home. She seemed a little uneasy as we asked her questions about life, and so we tried to encourage her and remind her of her capability to overcome her past.
I haven't seen Shannon since that day, and I often wonder where life has taken her. Is she back on the streets? Did she ever find steady work? What was God's purpose for our paths crossing? I may never know the answer to these questions, but I do know that through this experience I have been forever changed.
Each time I see someone on the streets who seems to be struggling, I think of Shannon. Instead of fearing individuals who are homeless, I think of Shannon’s bright spirit and her uphill battle to break generational cycles. I think of my own life, and how it was simply my good fortune to be born into a stable family with the resources to provide opportunities for success. I think of how I did nothing to deserve this…and how Shannon also did nothing to deserve her life’s rough beginnings, which catapulted her into cycles of poverty and lack of opportunities for success.
When we get curious about people who are very different than us, we begin to see the humanity behind the headlines. When we stop alienating people and building walls to protect our own precious life, we gain deeper compassion and a richer life. It takes a lot more time to build an actual relationship with a neighbor experiencing poverty than it does to donate money or a box of old items to a charity and think we are “helping the poor…” but the lasting impact is always worth it.
We don’t have to look far to find these opportunities. Sometimes, the opportunity to choose welcome is literally right on our doorstep.
Keeping an open door policy,
Dr. Peek