UNDER THE BRIDGE

Under the Bridge, along side the river in downtown Tampa, the sun was beginning to set. Just beneath the business district stood about 200 homeless and hurting souls. Many come each week looking forward to a dinner fit for the Lord himself. Often we see terrible sorrow, loneliness and despair in the eyes of those we serve. This is why we come week after week and month after month to feed them.

Often we ask ourselves if we are truly 'feeding' them and wonder if this effort matters to anyone. During times like this the Lord always seems to bless and reassure us we are doing His will.

This particular evening we had been told we were not permitted to stop and feed at our last stop. This disheartening news bruised our spirits somewhat. To add to the angst, we notice two men fighting. One man fell and hit his head on the bricks and lay limp and lifeless. He was bleeding profusely from a four inch gash in the back of his head.

Nick, one of our laity... took off his shirt, which has the image of the crucified Christ on the front, and placed it against the wound. A few of us gathered around him and began to pray. Joley, known as Kicker... prayed that the Lord would heal the wound, leaving not a trace of blood. Others stood by and prayed in the Spirit, while I knelt beside him and talked to him. Blood was coming through his teeth, ears and nose by the time the ambulance arrived.

Suddenly, the man smiled and a peaceful look replaced the anger we had seen moments before. Once the ambulance arrived we all stood up and backed away. Just then the paramedic lifted the man to his feet. As he stood we noticed that his head was completely healed. Not a trace of blood was in his hair. A pool of blood still lay beneath him. Nick opened his shirt to find that all the blood has absorbed onto the face of Christ and none seeped into the cloth.

The policeman looked to me and said as he pointed to Jesus’ face on my shirt, " I know who healed him... Jesus."

We all stood there in a daze... amazed and humbled that God would allow us to see a miracle in our midst. More over the fact that the wound had been completely healed was that this man, drunken and dirty~ could have cared less he was healed. But the Lord chose to heal him anyway. We ask ourselves... "for what?"

Later that night I was profoundly moved by the knowledge that the Lord loves us exactly as we are and chose to bless us with this miracle to show us that we are serving HIM... not the man. It taught me never to seek appreciation for what we do, just the inner knowledge that we are following the teachings of Christ. Although we cannot see the Lord beneath the covering of sin, He still waits for us to come and visit him.