by Kimberly Parker
(In full transparency, I wrote this blog for Central Presbyterian Church to use in an Advent booklet they published. December is one of the months I write a blog for Central Outreach and Advocacy Center. I really felt this was the blog I wanted to share with our readers so I decided I could adapt it a bit.)
“And she brought forth her firstborn son, and wrapped him in swaddling clothes, and laid him in a manger; because there was no room for them in the inn.” Luke 2:7 KJV
Can you imagine showing up at an inn (hotel, motel, cabin, friend’s house, etc.) and being told “there is no room for you here?” Or maybe that has happened to you. I don’t think I’ve ever experienced that, but others may have, due to some unforeseen circumstance.
I can’t imagine what Mary and Joseph experienced or felt when they were told there was no room in the inn.
I feel like some of the guests we see at Central Outreach and Advocacy Center are often told there is no room for them. It may be when they walk to a shelter and hear the words, “We are full.” It may be when they try a different shelter and are told, “We cannot give you a place to sleep until you have a state ID.”
I get the feeling that it isn’t just at shelters that our guests sometimes feel like they are being told, “There is no room for you here.” Sometimes that feeling can be associated with the way in which someone is treated. Our guests are often ignored, walked around, and shunned. People are sometimes scared of them. Some don’t know what to say to someone who is dirty and smelly or someone who appears to be talking to someone who is not standing right there with them.
I know for sure that our guests are often treated poorly when they go into places seeking services. They share that with us. I can imagine that during these times, they feel as if there is no room for them.
At the OAC, our values are, “We believe in meeting people where they are with patience and humility, and treating each person with respect and dignity.” Our team does our very best to make sure we do this with each person we encounter. It’s not always easy. Our guests sometimes come to our doors, hungry, dirty, angry, tired, and totally beat down. As we attempt to meet them where they are with patience and humility, and treat them with the respect and dignity that everyone deserves, I hope we are saying to them, “There is room at our inn for you.”
I wonder during this holiday season and into the New Year if we could make sure we say to another person in some form or fashion that there is room at our inn for you? I wonder if we are able to do that, what that invitation may feel like to us? Who knows? In doing so, it might transform our own lives!