Christ of the Shelter Line

Christ of the Shelter Line

About thirty men and women were lined up on the sidewalk along the fence at Manna House this morning, waiting to sign up for twenty-four slots for shelter at Room in the Inn, the only free shelter in the city of Memphis.  The line brought to my mind an old woodcut by Fritz Eichenberg.  In the “Christ of the Breadlines” woodcut, men and women stand in a breadline.  In the same line stands Christ. 

The line at Manna House wasn’t for bread; it was for shelter.  The breadline came later in the morning at the St. Vincent de Paul Food Mission a few blocks away.  The line at Manna House was also for showers, clothing, and hygiene items.  The line for coffee formed when Manna House opened.

            No one likes waiting in a line.  People are restless in a line, tired of standing, shifting from one foot to the other.  People are anxious, fearing of scarcity.  In the lines this morning, people wondered, “Will there still be room for me on the list for shelter?”  “Will there be room for me on the list for showers?”

            There’s also humiliation in waiting in a line for shelter, or for showers, or for soup.  Our society is a harsh judge of those who wait for such necessities, calling them “lazy,” “parasites,” “failures,” “losers.”  Presidential candidates chastise the poor for being “takers.”  A “Christian” financial guru blames the poor for being poor, saying their poverty is a result of bad habits.  And our guests in the line know those judgments, and carry that wound within them as they wait.  They stand with the crucified Christ, rejected and despised.

            In the line this morning was Joseph, mentally ill, standing there without shoes in ill-fitting pants.  He was shaking.  One eye was swollen shut, and there were still flecks of dried blood in his hair.  Someone had beaten him up. 

Standing with Michael (and Christ) were others in the shelter line.  Some are physically disabled from years of back breaking manual labor.  Others have been shunted aside because of struggles with mental illness. Some have addictions to alcohol or other drugs and can never find a treatment center that will take them. Some have criminal convictions and so no one will hire them.  Some work at minimum wage jobs and never can get enough to get a place to live.  Some are physically disabled from brain injuries and have seizures.  All of them are made in the image of God.  All of them are God’s beloved.  All of them are Christ, suffering under the sin of the world.

            Today was the Feast of St. Gertrude, a mystic from the Middle Ages.  She saw visions of Christ in her convent.  There’s a mysticism necessary for offering hospitality and seeking justice for the people waiting in line.  It is the mysticism of seeing Christ in the shelter line, the shower line, the soup line.  It is also the mysticism that hears Christ in the psalms crying out with those in line, “Be pleased, O God to deliver me.  O Lord, make haste to help me!  Let those be put to shame and confusion who seek my life.  Let those be turned back and brought to dishonor who desire to hurt me.  … I am poor and needy, God!  You are my help and my deliverer; O Lord, do not delay!” (Psalm 70:1-2, 5).