Gut Feelings

 Good afternoon, and welcome.

 Sometimes, the days start out very routine and ordinary.  The plans one has for the day fit right in with how the day is going.  Things get done and are checked off of the “inbox” list.  One feels a real sense of accomplishment.  Then, especially for the church I work at, there comes a visitor to the office door, and things suddenly are much different.  Priorities are shifted.  Things that seemed important aren’t so important anymore.  The day has changed.

Today was one of those days.  A couple of hours ago, a man came to the office door.  I didn’t know him, so we visited for a bit with him outside and I at the door opening.  It seems the man had been working construction for a company that had a job in South Dakota.  The man was from Garden City, Kansas.  A day or so ago, he found out that his family in the Garden City area was involved in a bad traffic accident, and he was trying to get home.

He obtained a bus ticket from South Dakota to Wichita…because Wichita is the closest place that bus service goes to Garden City.  He needed to get on to Garden City to take care of family business, but none in his family could come after him due to the accident, and a friend in Garden City was unable to come for him either.  So, he found himself let off at the bus terminal here and was left to wander the downtown Wichita streets trying to figure out what he would do next.  He had approached a few churches downtown that didn’t answer their door, and eventually found himself at RiverWalk, where we did answer the door.

I eventually asked the man inside and visited with him more.  I knew of no easy way we could get him to Garden City, and besides, although our church does provide benevolence in several different ways, we normally do not buy tickets for transportation, or pay for motels or meals.

To shorten the story considerably, we were able to find him bus service to the Newton, Kansas Amtrak station and got him a train ticket to Garden City.  We also put him up in a motel near the bus station as he needed to be there shortly after midnight to catch the bus to Newton.  We also gave him some snack food and water and transported him to the hotel.  All of these things, except for the food and water, were things we normally do NOT do.

You might ask why we went ahead with these things, and whether his story was true or not.  Here’s what I can tell you.  I don’t know with certainty if his story was true or not.  I do know from over a decade of listening to stories of those needing help that they sometimes are incomplete…sometimes unintentionally…and sometimes with purpose.  Many times, I also know when things don’t always add up…when one part of the story doesn’t parallel or compliment another part.  And then I just look at a person’s demeanor…his attitude…his way of carrying himself…his comments perhaps not having to do directly with the story.

And it ends up being a gut feeling based often on nothing more than the plausibility of the story itself, appearance, non-verbal cues, and just an “Is this the right thing to do?” thought.  Those are often the reasons why we decide whether to help, how much to help, and what kinds of help to give.  That’s it…a gut feeling.  That and our philosophy of erring on the side of helping if there are any questions.

I know I just said that it’s just a “gut feeling,” but I truly believe many of those gut feelings are generated by God Himself in real time during the encounter.  He hears, He knows, and He intercedes “on the fly,” so to speak as we are working with someone.  If I didn’t believe that, I wouldn’t be doing the benevolence here at RiverWalk.

I don’t know with certainty if his family was involved in an accident in Western Kansas or not.  Nor do I know with certainty that he came from South Dakota.  But I do know that, had we not stepped in, and if his story is truthful, he would have spent the rest of the day wandering the streets of downtown Wichita, in a place where he knew no one, did not know the lay of the land, so to speak, and would be looking for someone who could help his situation.

I don’t know what you would have done in that circumstance.  Nor do I know what we will do if presented with a similar story at some future time.  Each encounter is different.  Each individual is different.  Each story is different.

If all works out, this man will be leaving Wichita early Friday morning with a different feeling toward the city…toward churches…and toward those who work with churches.  I don’t know what his faith tradition is, and didn’t ask.  I believe he was in no frame of mind to discuss his eternal fate today.  Perhaps some day, because of what we did, he will be…either with us or with someone else.  And that would just be icing on the cake.

 

Blessings,