The homeless should be celebrated in every home

Last Saturday night the Kansas City Chorale did an amazing concert at St. Paul’s. You can listen to them sing  at this link.  By all accounts, it was an amazing evening of glorious music from their Nativitas album–their Christmas album.  It seems the church space fit the Chorale very well.  I listened to some of the rehearsal and it was as if the building resonated with their voices.  It was amazing, especially a piece called “Jerusalem” (not on the Nativitas CD), which was particularly powerful–and I only heard the rehearsal.  Sam reported the church was nearly full and that there was great rapport between the choral group and the crowd; perhaps because of the closeness of choir and crowd, maybe because the chorale was tired after two nights of performing and was more vulnerably present to the crowd.  In any case, Sam and others reported to me that it was a very effective setting and a powerful experience for all in attendance.  We are pleased to offer our church space for these kinds of community events.

Side note: Beau Bledsoe  and the ensemble Iberica will be performing the The Kilmore Carols December 19 at 8 p.m. in the nave.  The Kilmore Carols have “traversed history and geography since medieval Europe. They are ethereal and mystical with only a single melody line, which is ornamented, free-flowing, and unhurried. Complied by an Irish friar, William Devereux, living in Salamanca, Spain who returned to his native village of Kilmore in the County of Wexford, Ireland, they have been performed there every year in an unbroken tradition for over 250 years.  In our treatment of these carols we will feature a soprano, baroque instrumentation and traditional Ozark fiddle to reflect the different times and geographies that these melodies have lived.”

Now back to the story . . . Aside from the wonder of the KC Chorale, the building, and the receptive and appreciative crowd all coming together to share an evening of Christmas music, there was one more surprise in store for all that evening.  As it turns out, one of our regular homeless persons, not knowing what was going on in the nave, came and made his bed slightly to the side of the south door, the very door the guests would use to exit after the concert.  Sam had not thought to arrange for security (we really have so few problems), so there was no one outside to keep this homeless man moving.  he just plopped himself down, unrolled his bed roll, and was dozing by the time the crowd was leaving.  Several reported this to me Sunday morning.  While I am sure some were mortified, parishioners told me people seemed to pass by mostly concerned they might disturb the man’s deep sleep.

Perhaps this is a good moment to tell you that we know almost all the homeless people around the church.  We keep up with them.  I have talked with them and we have a bargain, I will not come down in the middle of the night and run them off and they will not do any harm to our facility.  Moreover, they must be gone by about 7:30 each morning.  Frankly, we benefit from this arrangement because it has saved us from a few occasions of vandalism and other mischief around the church.  Occasionally, they over sleep and I do have to wake them up and get them to move on.

Regardless, I am sure it was a real shock to some of the visitors to the concert.  However, there is a wonderful seasonal irony contained in this as well.  G.K. Chesterton , a turn of the 20th century English writer wrote, “Christmas is built upon a beautiful and intentional paradox; that the birth of the homeless should be celebrated in every home.”  So on this night of listening to beautiful and amazing choral music celebrating the mystery and majesty of the birth of Christ, the crowd encountered a homeless man asleep at the doors of the church.  I wonder if any thought how well this completed their evening?