Confessions of an Unemployed
Minister - Part Three: Alan
Another gift of being in transition has been
my regular visits with my friend Alan. Alan has cerebral palsy. He lives in a
residential care hospital facility and needs personal, professional care for
most of his needs. But, he gets out in his electric wheel chair every day and he
consistently does the many things he loves to do. He is an accomplished
photographer. He takes photos with his specially equipped camera and he has
reproduced many of his compositions as cards, which he sells from his chair
around town. He visits his many favorite spots in our city, especially several
coffee shops where they know his name and his tastes (milk with four sugars!).
He has many friends and he visits the library almost every day where he can get
on a computer to communicate with them, as well as to connect with the wider
world.
I met Alan through a mutual friend who was the pastoral care
priest at another facility where Alan lived. Later, Alan started attending the
church I was serving. He would come early each Sunday and we would chat while I
prepared for the morning services. I had to keep getting to the church earlier
over the years as there was usually about an hours worth of things to do before
I could engage with anyone and Alan kept coming earlier. When I was no longer
serving that church, I wanted to keep seeing Alan. So, I began visiting him at
his places: his home, his coffee shops, his library.
Alan’s friendship is very special to me. Our friendship is not
based on what we get out of each other. I think Alan simply likes me for who I
am, not what he can get from me. Others meet his physical needs. I cannot drive
him anywhere. I don’t have the money to take him on the cruse to Alaska he
dreams of. He also doesn’t fit into promoting some ministry agenda of mine. He
is so independent sometimes it’s hard to find him. When we are together, we
both have to work hard at communicating verbally. Because of his other physical
limitations there are many things we can’t do together. But, we can simply be
together, and there is something profoundly precious to me about that. We can
sit and chat over coffee. We can watch TV together. We can simply head along a
path together enjoying our beautiful city. Visiting with Alan each week is an
important and enjoyable discipline in my life. Alan is teaching me some
important lessons about life and friendship and the way of Jesus. Alan is one
of the many special gifts that have come into my life.
