Yesterday was a day filled with meetings and places I needed to be. It was so full that I never made it to my computer to register the experience I had in the early morning as I drove to work. I have many routes that I can drive on any given day. Yesterday I decided to take a different bridge which brings me first through downtown St. Paul and along the beauty of Summit Avenue on my way to my office in Minneapolis. This is what I often think of as the ‘leisurely route.’ My experience yesterday turned this drive into something deeper.
As I came off the High Bridge that connects St. Paul with West St. Paul, I stopped at the red light that measures traffic on West. 7th Street. At this corner is The Salvation Army. The corner was bustling with people who had perhaps eaten breakfast there or slept there, I don’t know. All I saw were many ages of people, many with back packs, some with take away food containers, standing about ready to begin their day. I watched as one young woman on a bike was being playfully followed and spoken to by a man. At least I hope it was playful. It was difficult to know. Groups of 2 or 3 began walking away from the center headed toward downtown, perhaps to the Dorothy Day Center where lingering seems to be tolerated more. I wondered what their day held. Were they mostly homeless and jobless or did they represent the many who work but can’t make enough to meet their daily needs. I continued to wonder about the young woman.
Moving on up Ramsey Hill I came on to the historic Summit Avenue, flanked by the University Club anchoring the top of the steep hill and all the mansions built by the founders of Saint Paul. These homes are so beautiful, so spacious, so expansive, one wonders how a regular family of perhaps only four people could find one another in all those rooms. I have favorites whose flowers I watch grow and change over the summer season. I love this ride…looking at the landscaping, the specific details of architecture, the fine stonework and intricate woodworking. These homes represent people who have been successful and have lived elegant lives.
The quandry I found myself in was how to make sense of a world that holds these two extremes.And I recognize that these extremes are relative given the living conditions of others around the globe. How do we embrace a world that cannot creatively solve the problems of homelessness and poverty when so much of the world has far more than they need? I recognize all the judgments and pitfalls that live in this thought process. I do not know the people I witnessed on the street or those who live along Summit. I cannot possibly know the circumstances of their lives. But my brow still furrows and my heart aches that somehow, as a society of the most privileged people on earth, we cannot figure this out.
I pray that the young woman is safe and that her day reflected, in at least some small way, the sunshine of the beautiful September morning.
"Blessed are the poor in spirit:for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are they who hunger and thirst after righteousness:for they shall be filled. Blessed are the merciful:for they shall obtain mercy. Blessed are the pure in heart:for they shall see God. Blessed are the peacemakers:for they shall be called the Children of God." Matthew 5:3-9