Jesus, heroin, & the lady at the well.

As most of you know by now, my passion is to share the love of God with those who think that they are untouchable, unlovable, unclean, unchurched, and unworthy. My recent post reminded me of something I wrote this past summer. I thought it may be timely.

I like heroin addicts. They are outsiders. Each week this summer I met with six to ten heroin addicts in my spirituality group at a methadone clinic where we discussed numerous issues centered on spirituality.

I learned something about "church" from my new friends.

Here is what I learned:To model the loving, compassionate, incarnational presence of God. Like Jesus, to empower my "friends" to be more fully human by inviting them into authentic relationship. This happened by entering into their world and becoming present to them. In other words, we entered into each other’s core pain and invited our wounds to come forth. And once we see that we all have wounds, we become less afraid of our own. We feel less inclined to hide behind the shame of our pain.

I was not there to fix, instruct, or teach. I was there to empty myself and to be present, to listen in the moment and to receive their stories as well as share mine. That is the only way it could work, I had to be real, for they would have tossed me out on my ear had I attempted to come across as the one with all the answers. I wasn’t there to answer questions about theology; I was there to explore questions of faith, even my own. I was there to express my deepest need and hunger for the Divine.

In other words, we were exchanging our experience, strength, and hope that we find in God with one another in an authentic, transparent manner.

My experience with the heroin addicts taught me a great deal about God. A part of being spiritual is less about telling and more about being-- being present, locating the pain and learning to remain with the pain of another’s soul including our own until our pain is crucified and buried, allowing God to resurrect new life within us.

I realized that when I am fully present and transparent with another person I don’t need to be anxious about converting them. When I model the love of God in a non-judgmental way and allow myself to be present with all that I am I open the door for another to be taken serious, to feel heard and understood—and to hopefully encounter the Sacred within each of us. Like the woman at the well with Jesus, when we are able to receive one’s story and model the love of God, people often walk away transformed, including me.