I just had a pretty bizarre experience that I’d like to share here. I was standing in down town Appleton, our adopted home for the last six weeks or so by a group of busses. The New England Patriots were in town getting ready to play the Packers tonight, and a group of people were waiting by the busses for some autographs. I normally wouldn’t have stopped, but my favorite player of all time currently plays for the Patriots. His name is Tim Dwight and the picture above is of him in all his glory as a Hawkeye. The busses were backed up from the hotel out in front of a construction project that’s garnered some controversy. Two guys have been protesting their treatment by the contractor for the last few weeks, but it doesn’t seem like anyone pays attention to them. I happened to walk past them last week and stopped to ask what they were protesting, but the guy was so surprised that someone stopped to talk to him that he could only point to the sign he was carrying and tell me to read it. Today the protesters were replaced by fans carrying binders full of football cards and yelling out each player’s names as they emerged from the hotel. When Tim Dwight finally came outside I yelled his name along with a few teenage boys looking for autographs, but Tim didn’t even look our way as he went straight into the bus. I think I understand a little of how the protesters must feel as people stream past them every day not even giving them the time of day.

The reason I was downtown today was that I finally got sick of just talking about caring for the poor and needy and decided to do something about it. A guy named Wayne came into church as I was putting the finishing touches on Sunday’s sermon and asked if we could give him some assistance in either fixing his bicycle or buying a bus pass for the month. I felt led to do him one better, so we went down to the basement where my bike rack is stored and put in on my car. As Wayne and drove past the busses waiting to take the Patriots to the game he talked about growing up in Green Bay and the players he has met. After we delivered his bike to the shop and I arranged for the repairs we shook hands and departed, he back to the Salvation Army and me to hero worship outside of the Radisson.

What I’m wondering is this: is there an unofficial class system in our country? It seems like I in my comfortable middle class life have a right to ignore those on a lower echelon than me like Wayne or the protesters. At the same time, Tim Dwight as a professional athlete has a right to ignore my desire to express admiration for him. As long as I walk past Wayne or Tim walks past me everything stays in its place and the system continues. Every time we stop to ask someone what they are protesting against or give a guy a ride downtown to fix his bike, though, we question the validity of the system and bring back a kingdom understanding. I say these things not to blow my own horn but show how long it takes the words of a sermon to impact even the pastor. Last Sunday Wendy preached on Amos 5, specifically the words, “Let justice roll down like waters and righteousness like an ever flowing stream.” I think those words make a little more sense to me today, as I hope they do for you.

Hello all. I just had a second and wanted to say hello. I am assuming you all heard by now, but I am going back to Kenya for the month of September. Josh will be a bachelor, but will also be preparing to retake the LSAT in early October. Now, I am just rapidly working to get all the stuff done at work that needs doing before I depart. Here is a photo of some of the girls from my small group here a at a holiday wine and cheese party.
-Virginia