The BLING girls have created a new necklace collection known as Urban Hope, featuring wire-wrapped street glass, sterling silver chains, and charms of words and images. Each week, I share here what one word of our Urban Hope Collection means to me, here, on Chicago's west side. This, the first, is on courage.
Courage
During the fourth watch of the night Jesus went out to them, walking on the lake. When the disciples saw him walking on the lake, they were terrified. "It's a ghost," they said, and cried out in fear. But Jesus immediately said to them: "Take courage! It is I. Don't be afraid."
-Matthew 14:22-27
Courage met me on the 1400 block of North Harding Avenue in the form of Ms. Irene Finn. She wore a brightly colored “America” t-shirt, a tourist-looking City of Chicago hat, and carried a small bag. Elderly and looking every one of her years, she stopped my family and I on the sidewalk and asked if we knew what block we were on. My first regrettable thought was the thought of most city dwellers—the woman wants money. But as we tried to gently point her toward the address she gave, it became clear that she was severely disoriented; to get her home, I would need to walk her the entire way.
Ms. Irene and I spent the next blessed half-hour arm in arm, shuffling slowly along the streets and alleys of Chicago’s west side. This wandering elder could not see as far as her own feet. Her “broken” knee could lift her foot no further than an inch in the air. Her anemia made her cold on an 85-degree morning. Yet that morning, Ms. Irene had left the hospital from visiting one of her many grandchildren, knowing well that she had to feel her way home by memory. Predictably, she had missed her bus stop; ours was the second stop she had tried this morning, and she was still far from home. Blind and exhausted, this beloved one was wandering Chicago without a soul knowing where she was.
O, the courage and love of this woman! What kind of soul leaves the safety of her house without sight or sureness of step, all for the sake of a grandchild? What kind of strength perseveres in asking strangers kindly for direction, inconveniencing no one as she treks slowly in the dark? What grace repeatedly calls down blessing from our Father for me?
“The eyes of the Lord range throughout the earth to show himself strong for those whose hearts are completely His” (2 Chronicles 16:9). Our God cares for his orphans and widows! Out of the whole vast city, my God saw his lost beloved and me, His servant. It is no mistake that our paths crossed. Saints, when God looks for a helper, does He see you? Can you be Christ, ready to stand as His hands and feet? In your own city, there are courageous, faithful ones waiting for God to come. There are Ms. Irenes wandering your streets. There are believing children praying themselves through abuse. There are faithful mamas longing for incarcerated sons to come home. God sees their courage; He is coming to them. Is He coming through you?
When God gives opportunity, be Christ’s body. Find his faithful, endangered disciples and greet them with the good news: “Take courage! It is I. Do not be afraid!” Saints, let it be that when you arrive, God Himself has shown up.
