The next time you kneel in prayer

The next time you kneel in prayer, let your heart remember—true devotion is also found in kneeling to lift someone who has fallen.

I see God on Mass Ave. every Sunday. He’s asking for water. She’s asking for clothing. He’s asking for food. And she’s asking for a place to live. Mass Ave is the altar on which I serve and honor God. I don’t know too much about theology, but I know that the gospel tells me to look for God disguised as someone as someone on Mass Ave.

I don’t have time for the pews. I don’t have time for clapping and singing hymns. I barely have time to make 150 brownies, 150 sandwiches, packaged 100 bags of chocolates, bake the cakes, filled 150 bags of fruit and get the clothing ready every week. And while I’m doing that, I have to find a source of funding for every week. That is what my prayer looks like.

Maybe I’m missing the entire point of the gospel but I think my mandate is to serve. I believe that it is very clearly spelled out in the teachers of Jesus. The gospel can exist on paper, on a book to be opened on Sundays, or can always exist in our hearts and be put into practice in places like the ‘Mass Aves’ we find everywhere we go.

How can I speak with someone about their soul when they are having a heat stroke on the sidewalk and the feet are covered with sores. God’s message of “love thy neighbor” can be best manifested with a pair of shoes and a bottle of cold water. Human connection.