SUNDAY, MAY 2, 2010

THE FIFTH SUNDAY OF EASTER

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Dear Friends in Our Lord Jesus:

It was a chance encounter that could have been embarrassing for one powerful man and demeaning to a powerless street person. It took place on a Sunday morning in April of 1989, when the first President Bush occupied our nation's highest office. And, of all places, it happened outside a church.

President Bush and his wife Barbara were on their way into St. John's Episcopal Church in Washington, D.C. They were suddenly stopped by a homeless man -- a man named William Wallace Brown Jr. "Will you pray for me?" Brown asked the President.

"No," Bush replied. And then our nation's 41st President added politely, "Come inside with us -- and pray for yourself."

From that moment, life became a wonderful odyssey for Brown, who went on to become a member of the church, which is located directly across Lafayette Square from the White House. It is known as the "Church of the Presidents."

And not only was Brown's life transformed, but he helped to transform the life of the old church. An assistant head usher at the church, Virginia Jones, described the experience on that Sunday, in an interview with the Washington Post: "Mr. Brown dressed in old clothes -- you could tell he was a street person. When the time came to take up collections, I was going to skip him. But he stopped me and gave me a wadded-up dollar bill. He gave one every Sunday. Now, some of our more well-to-do members only put in a dollar, and many of them were humbled by Mr. Brown's spirit of generosity."

During the remainder of this Easter Season, may we also respond with generosity to the love that God shares with us each day.

-- The Very Rev. Dr. Steve Sellers +