{"id":603,"date":"2014-06-14T20:33:00","date_gmt":"2014-06-14T20:33:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/admin.patheos.com\/blogs\/rhetoricraceandreligion\/2014\/06\/pentecost-toothaches-and-much-more.html"},"modified":"2014-06-14T20:33:00","modified_gmt":"2014-06-14T20:33:00","slug":"pentecost-toothaches-and-much-more","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/rhetoricraceandreligion\/2014\/06\/pentecost-toothaches-and-much-more.html","title":{"rendered":"Pentecost, Toothaches and Much More"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>
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by Peter Gathje<\/a><\/span><\/div>\n
R3 Contributor<\/span><\/div>\n
*Peter also blogs at Radical Hospitality<\/a><\/span><\/div>\n

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When the day after Pentecost had come, they were gathered all together in one place at Manna House.\u00a0 And suddenly from down the street there came a sound like the rush of a might big semi-truck flying down\u00a0<\/u>Jefferson Avenue<\/u>, and it filled the entire front porch and house where they were sitting drinking coffee.\u00a0 Divided tongues, as of fire, appeared among them, and a tongue rested on each of them.\u00a0 All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other languages, as the Spirit gave them ability.<\/span><\/div>\n

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Now there were devout folks from all over the place living in the neighborhood of Claybrook and Jefferson.\u00a0 And at this sound, the crowd gathered and was bewildered, because each one heard them speaking in the native language of each.\u00a0 Amazed and astonished they asked, \u201cAre not all these who are speaking Memphians?\u00a0 And how is it that we hear, each of us, in our own native tongue?\u00a0 Mississippians, Arkansans, East Tennesseans, and residents of Iowa, Nebraska, Missouri, Georgians, Alabamians, people from Bucksnort and Nashville, and Chattanooga, and visitors from the Catholic Heart Work Camp\u2014in our own languages we hear them speaking about God\u2019s deeds of power.\u201d<\/span><\/div>\n

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All were amazed and perplexed, saying to one another, \u201cWhat does this mean?\u201d\u00a0 But others sneered and said, \u201cThey are filled with beer.\u201d<\/span><\/div>\n

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But Moses, standing with those on the porch, raised his voice, and addressed them.\u00a0 And it was a long speech and I don\u2019t remember it all, but the gist of it was, \u201cThese folks are not drunk.\u00a0 It\u2019s only<\/u>8:30am<\/span><\/span><\/u>.\u00a0 No, the prophecies have been fulfilled and the Spirit has come.\u00a0 Death has been overcome.\u00a0 Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved.\u201d<\/span><\/div>\n

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O, yes, it was quite a day at Manna House!\u00a0 Awe came upon everyone.\u00a0 All who believed were together and shared things, distributing goods to all, as any had need.\u00a0 Twenty men showered and got a change of clothes.\u00a0 Another fifty-one (plus a few extras) got \u201csocks and hygiene.\u201d\u00a0 And everyone who showed up got coffee or water, as they wished.\u00a0 All that morning they spent much time together, telling stories and jokes, sharing news and views, enjoying each other\u2019s company.\u00a0<\/span><\/div>\n

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You ever had a toothache? Not just a little one, but a throbbing, pulsating, make-all\u2013of-life-miserable toothache? One of our guests did this week. I was standing in the living room of Manna House and noticed Leroy looking quite glum. He\u2019s never been the most happy-go-lucky person, but his face this day said, \u201cI\u2019m suffering.\u201d<\/span><\/div>\n
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\u201cHow you doing Leroy?\u201d<\/div>\n
\u201cAwful. I have a really bad toothache. They gave me a prescription but I\u2019m not going to be able to afford it.\u201d<\/div>\n
\u201cWhere\u2019d you go for help?\u201d<\/div>\n
\u201cThe Med.\u201d<\/div>\n

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The Med, of course, is the Regional Medical Center (which today is trying to rebrand itself as \u201cRegional One Health\u201d). Folks around here know it is the massive public hospital, which along with Methodist Hospital a few blocks away, takes care of most of the poor people in Shelby County and north Mississippi and far eastern Arkansas. Dr. King died there. So did Elvis.<\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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\u201cCan I see your prescription? Maybe Manna House can help.\u201d<\/span><\/span><\/div>\n
<\/span>\n
\u201cSure.\u201d<\/span><\/div>\n

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The prescription was for two different kinds of antibiotics. And thankfully, we weren\u2019t that busy right then at Manna House. So if I slipped out for a few minutes it wouldn\u2019t create a problem for getting the work of the house done. Ashley said things would be fine.<\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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\u201cLeroy, let\u2019s go get this filled.\u201d<\/span><\/div>\n

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So we hopped in my car and made the short trip to the Med.\u00a0Of course, nothing is as simple as you\u2019d think it might be when you enter the land of the poor. Leroy had turned in his prescription to get it filled before he came to Manna House. It had been a couple of hours. But after we waited and waited and waited, when it was finally his turn, he found out that the prescription had not been filled. He still needed to be cleared of allergic reactions.<\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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\u201cNobody told me that when I turned in my prescription.\u201d<\/span><\/span><\/div>\n
<\/span>\n
\u201cSir, you need to take another number and see the folks over there. Once they see you about possible allergies it will be about 45 minutes before we\u2019ll get back to you.\u201d<\/span><\/div>\n

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<\/p><\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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What choice did we have? We waited. Eventually Leroy saw the allergic folks, and then we settled in to wait some more. We talked. First about his tooth. He needs to get it pulled, and he\u2019s hoping to get that done\u00a0tomorrow<\/span><\/span>. He knows a place. Then he got more reflective.<\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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\u201cI\u2019m suffering so much these days, and I\u2019ve been suffering so long,\u201d Leroy told me, \u201cI just want to die. But then I\u2019d have to face God and that would probably mean more suffering.\u201d<\/span><\/span><\/div>\n
<\/span>\n
\u201cWhy do you say that?\u201d<\/span><\/div>\n

<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m not doing well in my life. I\u2019ve never done well. I just can\u2019t get myself together.\u201d<\/div>\n

<\/p><\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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Then Leroy told me some about his family. There was horrible suffering, a sibling who was murdered, illnesses, the struggles to keep jobs, and the struggles to keep a place to live. Leroy\u2019s been homeless a long time. He carries so much grief.<\/span>
<\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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\u201cGod loves you Leroy, more that you will ever know. God\u2019s not out to punish you. And when you do die, God will welcome you with better hospitality than any place you\u2019ve ever been.\u201d<\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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<\/span>\n
\u201cYou think so?\u201d<\/span><\/div>\n

<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cYes. You\u2019re one of God\u2019s children, and God loves each of God\u2019s children more powerfully than we can imagine.\u201d<\/div>\n

<\/p><\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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Leroy\u2019s name was called. The prescription was filled and paid for, and we headed out into the labyrinth of hallways at the Med. We went by the old \u201cJohn Gaston Hospital\u201d sign preserved in one of the halls. John Gaston was the segregated city hospital.<\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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\u201cThat\u2019s where I was born,\u201d Leroy said, \u201cMost of it was set aside for blacks.\u201d<\/span><\/span><\/div>\n

<\/span><\/span><\/div>\n
Follow Peter on\u00a0Twitter\u00a0@petegath<\/a><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/div>\n

<\/p><\/div>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

by Peter Gathje R3 Contributor *Peter also blogs at Radical Hospitality When the day after Pentecost had come, they were gathered all together in one place at Manna House.\u00a0 And suddenly from down the street there came a sound like the rush of a might big semi-truck flying down\u00a0Jefferson Avenue, and it filled the entire […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-603","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"\nPentecost, Toothaches and Much More<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"by Peter GathjeR3 Contributor*Peter also blogs at Radical HospitalityWhen the day after Pentecost had come, they were gathered all together in one place\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, 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