Rev Bill

A homeless man died last week in Reidsville.

His name was George.

He had a family – his mother and sisters and brother still live in Reidsville – but they all suffer from a genetic disorder that gives them a different look about them and makes them disabled – unable to hold down jobs.

Besides the genetic disorders, George also had a problem with alcohol and drugs.

If he was sober George was one of the nicest, kindest people you would ever want to meet. But if he was drunk or high he could be one of the meanest people you would ever want to be around – obnoxious – even violent.

He would live with someone a while – then get drunk and begin acting violently and they would kick him out.
Most of the time he did not have a place to live – and lived on the streets.

He stayed in trouble with the law – maybe because jail was a better place for him than the streets of Reidsville.

He was one of our clients at The Reidsville Outreach Center – but I first met him at the Soup Kitchen when Sally and I – and others — volunteered at the Soup Kitchen over 15 years ago.

When Bill Oldland – my good friend and the Rector at St. Thomas Episcopal Church – found out George had died he contacted the family and offered a place in their Columbarium for George’s ashes. At the service – which was attended by about 30 people – law officers who had known George, Mental Health workers who had worked with him, friends and family – Bill acknowledged George’s problems – but he also talked about his love –
the fact that he would not take food from the Outreach Center he didn’t need but would bring it back for someone else to use –
the fact that he would cut the yard of an elderly lady in town –
the types of things most people did not know about George because they didn’t look past the problems.

Bill said that sometimes you have to look beyond “surface” things to see the good in others – in George’s case his generosity and caring. Sometimes you have to look below the surface to see the good in others.

I want to learn to do that better.

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