Championing the Apathetic

His posture said everything we needed to know. He was a small man, covered in layers of clothing that served as the meat to his bony frame. He sat at a table with his shoulders slumped forward and head bowed low. John Henry's story was just what his posture might have predicted. He was homeless. He had lost his job. His house had burned down. His family had given up on him and had abandoned him. He had absolutely nothing. He came to Uptown Baptist Church in Chicago for food and Uptown sought to give him both the physical nourishment that he needed and a side order of hope.

Francis had the same frame. His posture was brought on by years of walking through Africa with the Lost Boys population amid the ravages of civil war. After years in a refugee camp, he found himself resettled in America. But, this would be land where he could not quite comprehend how to succeed. Maybe he had been too enabled by the kindness of those Americans who sought to teach him the ways of their land. Whatever the case, he found himself depending on everyone to provide for his every need. His "brothers" (other Lost Boy refugees) resented him, his mentors became exasperated, he was left alone because he was deemed unteachable.

She found herself in a nursing home. Having had a stroke, she could do very little physically. Yet it appeared that her life would be long in this sad, smelly place. The nursing staff was only as kind as it had to be. No one ever came to visit except at Christmas and maybe Easter and then those were people from her church. Once in a while, her son might come. It was hard on everyone. She couldn't speak well and she essentially did what she thought she did best--stared into space. Her life became one of oblivion to the ongoings around her.

In each of these cases, these people are living at the level of human consciousness known as apathy. In recent weeks we have discussed shame and guilt. Looking at apathy we come to understand that this is the stage where we find those who are poverty stricken and despairing. These are the hopeless of our society who become dependent upon society.

So often these are the very people on whom the rest of give up. Only the likes of Mother Teresa seem to be able to sustain their ministry to these folks. So, I pose this question: How do we find it within ourselves to support the apathetic among us, to champion them to new levels and to move them toward hope. I ponder this question this week and invite you to contemplate with me.