March 1 | Wednesday in the First Week of Lent

Do you think that sloth is the world’s basic sin? It comes as if we were caught in a strange fatigue. A passivity of energy that pushes us down rather than lifting us up. It feels like no change is possible. It feels like nothing is to be desired. The response to everything is cynicism - Why bother? What for? Who cares? Maybe sloth is the world’s basic sin. The poison that makes a human life one tremendous waste.

The Marta Station in Sandy Springs is the cleanest station of the entire rail system. It is spacious and well lit. Vending machines are stocked and functional. A convenient elevator offers assistance to travelers returning home from the airport. So it was strange to see her there. She wore soiled pajama bottoms and she held a sign: “Homeless Hungry/Anything Helps.” 

She had two small children in the shopping cart. When I first saw her, she had been searching the trash bins in search of cans to add to those in her cart. A few riders stopped to hand her small bills. Most passed her by. She asked me for water. Would I buy her two bottles from the machine so she could give her children a drink and then wash their face and hands. Have you eaten? Have the children eaten? “Not yet.” I gave her some money. “There is a Chick-fil-A restaurant right down the street.'' She thanked me and off she went. 

What is the one thing I could say about her without reservation? She is not lazy. Life just overwhelmed her. She does not need pity. God knows, she didn’t need to be shamed. What she needed was a favor. A helping hand. She needed an understanding that would cradle and protect her dignity.

The life of a Christian is a fight. Not against anything or anyone. It is a fight for someone. A fight for dignity and a fight for decency. Whenever I think that I’m too tired to care, I think of my lady with the two children and the soiled pajama bottoms. 

May the sailors in crossing the ocean, not hear the cries of the drowned.