"dang it"

Tomorrow is February. I've lost 3 homeless people this year. All of them were in their 50's. No one paid thousands of dollars to put their picture and life story in an obituary in the paper. But, each one lived a life and had a story. Each one was made by God.


I'd like you to meet one of them. His name is Bart. I met him in early 2013. He started out like most everyone, went to school, learned a trade, had a honey, became a Dad to a son. But, somewhere along the way he began to drown in alcohol. I don't know the life event that started the downward spiral.


I know he was a talented paint and body man. He could take destroyed vehicles and make them look like new. He showed me some pictures. My Dad was an amazing paint and body man, too. Maybe that's why Bart climbed into my heart and I so wanted him to experience God's purpose and plan away from alcohol.


Some people think that homeless drunks climb into the bottle and stay there by choice. They are "hopeless," "a lost cause," "a waste of time...." No human being is outside the reach of  God's redeeming grace. I can tell you Bart did not live a life content to be in that bottle. He struggled. He fought to sober up. He hated living on the streets, he felt alone and trapped. He sought guidance and help through a few churches. He came to me for help.


One night he fell asleep and his tent and bedding caught fire and he was severely burned. While he was in the hospital, someone through Charity Care started an application for disability. She and I worked over a year to gather all the medical records and get him to appointments. He didn't have a phone most of the time and he would disappear and not stay in his usual camps. Then he would pop up, sometimes sober and eager to take the opportunity to change.


He was incredibly funny when he was sober or just buzzed. He would tell me stories and his favorite phrase was, "dang it." He would tell me about getting hit by a truck on his bicycle and not being able to breathe very well, "dang it." He was hit by a vehicle 3 times during the time I knew him. He got into fights and he told me about the men's Bible study he went to. We would sit and talk about scripture and how he related to Jesus because he was homeless too...


Last Saturday Bart suffered head trauma and died in the hospital. I went to his funeral service and there he was in the casket with his moustache and infamous ball cap on. A slide show depicted part of his life and I didn't recognize him in the early photos. He had blonde hair and many of the photos were with family members. As he aged, I could see the effects of alcohol and the demons he fought on his face. 


The Pastor asked if anyone wanted to stand up say something to celebrate the life of Bart. His young nephew darted to the podium and said loudly, "Yeah, my uncle Bart was homeless and an alcoholic...he was so much more than that...when I was down he made me laugh...I loved him and I'll miss him."


Me too.  d