The Procession

Last night I had the honour of speaking at the Edmonton Family Worship Centre, a church smack dab in the heart of the inner city. I had been asked to help out with one of their FPU sessions, since it was a very "Americanized" session and they needed some translation into Canadian terms. It was a wonderful night and I met a lot of nice people. This Dave Ramsey thing sure has been a blessing! They nudged me further towards going down to Brentwood for Counsellor Training, as there are few, if any Canadians who have ever gone down.

But the moment of the night that is etched in my memory was not anything to do with FPU, but of when I pulled up to the church and parked my car. It was a cold night, at least -20, and I exited my car to try to find my way into the church. As I stepped out, I saw the waves of people heading for the Mustard Seed church just a block away. It reminded me of heading to a football game and there are groups of people walking towards the stadium, but last night there was no game, and it wasn't a warm summer night, and these people were heading to a place where they could warm up, get a cup of coffee, and chat with friends in an escape from the frigid cold.

I wondered who these people were, and wondered if my cousin was among them, since last I heard he was on the streets downtown. I wondered where they were going to go after they left the church, and would there be enough room in the shelters for all of them. And I thought about my warm car and how they'd probably love to just sit in the warmth for a few minutes.

When I left the church there were still people at the Mustard Seed, but it wouldn't be open much longer, and the procession would be heading back out into the cold. I drove past and stopped at the corner where my prostitute friend had flagged me down only weeks before. She wasn't there, but I hope she was warm wherever she was. I continued down the road in my warm car towards the warm comfort of the suburbs.

No one is a mere mortal.