{"id":1324,"date":"2016-07-03T05:00:29","date_gmt":"2016-07-03T09:00:29","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/sjcmetheology.wpengine.com\/?p=1324"},"modified":"2016-07-03T05:00:29","modified_gmt":"2016-07-03T09:00:29","slug":"today-i-met-someone","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.sjcme.edu\/theology\/today-i-met-someone\/","title":{"rendered":"Today I Met Someone"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"working-at-starbucks\"<\/a>As a college theology instructor (mostly online) I don\u2019t have an office. The local coffee shop is my desk, with the music coming from the sound system and hum of conversation around me the ambient noise keeping me from nodding off. On this particular day I worked sluggishly at \u201cmy desk,\u201d trying to write my monthly column. The idea was good, but the words were an alphabet soup of nothing all that significant \u2013 or coherent. Frustrated at my lack of creativity, I grabbed my tea and browsed the shops to clear my head. In my bag was my husband\u2019s cross on its broken chain. If I couldn\u2019t write, I might at least find a nice anniversary present.<\/p>\n

The single sales associate in the store was busy with a customer, but asked what I needed. I told her I\u2019d like to replace the broken chain, and she assured me they carried something that might interest me. She excused herself and went into the back room. Another associate emerged, politely questioning me and examining the chain. She showed me some pieces, and we talked about how expensive gold had become, and how we wished we\u2019d gotten some when it was cheaper. Our chat was pleasant, and she was helpful, but a big purchase like this requires some thought. The woman was polite and not at all pushy. She said that if I returned and she wasn\u2019t there it was because her husband had recently been hit by a car and was in the hospital. \u201cOh no!\u201d I said. \u201cWhat happened?\u201d The woman offered her age (61) and said her husband was older but in relatively good shape. He\u2019d been crossing the street downtown at about nine in the evening. The crosswalk was well-lit and the street is known for its activity, especially on summer evenings. The man was struck and lay unconscious and covered in blood. Sometime after a woman stopped to help. She hadn\u2019t witnessed the accident, but noticed that his shoe had landed on the other side of the street, indicating that a car had likely hit him. As she knelt beside him, in one hand her cell phone, and his hand in the other, she watched two cars drive around them and continue on their way. Listening to this part of the story I couldn\u2019t help but recall the parable of the Good Samaritan. Here it was, being told in real life on Main Street, USA.<\/p>\n

Eventually the police arrived, along with my jewelry store friend. A twenty-something young woman struck the man and was watching the scene from some distance away, occasionally glancing up as she furiously texted. She\u2019d been delivering a pizza. When the officer approached she simply said, \u201cI hit him.\u201d The man regained consciousness, and after a lengthy hospital stay he\u2019ll have a difficult recovery ahead. I was dismayed by many aspects of this story: the cold response of the driver, the callous disregard with which other cars swerved around the broken, bleeding man, and the indifference of all but one woman who stopped to help. We spoke about her husband\u2019s injuries, his memory loss, and her anxiety over how she\u2019d care for him in their modest home.<\/p>\n

We chatted a few minutes more and then I thanked her and told her I\u2019d think a bit more about the chain. She extended her hand and said, \u201cMy name is Lauren. What\u2019s yours?\u201d I took her hand, told her my name, and she said, \u201cIt\u2019s nice to meet you, Ann. I really don\u2019t talk this much, but I guess I felt comfortable with you.\u201d \u201cI\u2019m glad,\u201d I said. \u201cI don\u2019t know if I\u2019ll end up buying the chain from you, but I\u2019m grateful you shared your story with me. Write down your husband\u2019s name and I\u2019ll pray for him. And you, too.\u201d Lauren\u2019s eyes welled up, and with that I knew I\u2019d better get out of there, or I\u2019d end up bawling myself. She thanked me and we said goodbye.<\/p>\n

The column I\u2019d anguished over for hours was okay, but not great. When I left the jewelry store I knew that didn\u2019t matter. I knew that this was the story I needed to tell. For a few moments I encountered another person, and she encountered me. Our world seems to have gone mad. Terrorism and violence in city streets aren\u2019t scenes from a summer blockbuster; they\u2019re shattering lives every day. I can\u2019t stop terrorism, or gang violence, or any number of tragedies happening every day. But I can be with someone when she needs to tell her story. I can stop in the middle of my own busy evening, as one woman did to help the man in the street. I can be Christ to someone by following His lead: by not fearing the encounter with another human being, by meeting that person where they are, and by taking the time to be truly present with them. I can stop worrying about silly things (like whether or not I\u2019ll be praised for a column), and make space for another in my thoughts, my heart, my prayers, and my time. I can do all of these things. And so can you.<\/p>\n

Today I met someone named Lauren, whose husband Joel was struck by a car. I promised to pray for them; perhaps you can as well.<\/p>\n

Today, I met someone. Maybe you did, too.<\/p>\n

Ann Koshute<\/strong> teaches theology for Saint Joseph\u2019s College Online<\/a>. This article appears in the current issue of\u00a0Eastern Catholic Life<\/a>, the\u00a0official publication of the Byzantine Catholic\u00a0Eparchy of Passaic.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

As a college theology instructor (mostly online) I don\u2019t have an office. The local coffee shop is my desk, with the music coming from the sound system and hum of conversation around me the ambient noise keeping me from nodding … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":48,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[14,15,23,1],"tags":[105],"class_list":["post-1324","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-new-evangelization","category-pastoral-theology","category-spirituality","category-uncategorized","tag-encounter"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.sjcme.edu\/theology\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1324","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.sjcme.edu\/theology\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.sjcme.edu\/theology\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.sjcme.edu\/theology\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/48"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.sjcme.edu\/theology\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1324"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.sjcme.edu\/theology\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1324\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.sjcme.edu\/theology\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1324"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.sjcme.edu\/theology\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1324"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.sjcme.edu\/theology\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1324"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}