The day after Easter a homeless friend of mine stumbled to the ground in front of our Community Dinner. His friend carried him to the front door and said, “they will give you a hot meal” and hurried off on his bike. I held his head and gently placed him on the sidewalk. I knew that he was in the process of overdosing and was close to dying. We gave him three doses of Narcan and called 911. A large crowd gathered as we waited for the paramedics. The paramedics came, gave him two more doses of Narcan, and monitored his progress. The ambulance lights, and all the chaos, caused the entire community to be overwhelmed. People began to share their own experiences with death, addiction, and trauma. In the middle of all of this, I read the post resurrection story of Jesus. Jesus appears to his friends who are hiding behind locked doors and receives their doubt, inviting them to touch his wounds. Jesus responds to their fear with “peace be with you.” My friend lived and reminded the community that Jesus revels himself when we roll away the stones that guard our hearts and weep together at the tomb.

Michael Cox