{"id":683,"date":"2014-05-15T08:54:00","date_gmt":"2014-05-15T08:54:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/admin.patheos.com\/blogs\/rhetoricraceandreligion\/2014\/05\/jacobs-gift.html"},"modified":"2014-05-15T08:54:00","modified_gmt":"2014-05-15T08:54:00","slug":"jacobs-gift","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/rhetoricraceandreligion\/2014\/05\/jacobs-gift.html","title":{"rendered":"Jacob’s Gift"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>
by Peter Gathje<\/span><\/div>\n
R3 Contributor<\/span><\/div>\n

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He told me later he didn\u2019t want me to think he was drawing attention to himself; he just wanted to help some one in need.\u00a0 When I came to <\/span>Manna House<\/a> this morning around\u00a0<\/span><\/u>6:30a.m.<\/span><\/span><\/u>, Jacob was standing near the gate along with six other guests.\u00a0 They were patiently waiting for me to come and unlock the gate.\u00a0 Then they would be able to sit on the benches in the front yard and wait some more until the \u201clist\u201d for men\u2019s showers and for \u201csocks and hygiene\u201d would be taken at\u00a0<\/span><\/u>7:45a.m.<\/span><\/span><\/u>\u00a0As I unlocked the gate, I noticed that Jacob was in his stocking feet.\u00a0 He had gotten shoes from Manna House just last week.<\/span><\/div>\n

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\u201cWhere are your shoes Jacob?\u201d<\/span><\/div>\n
\u201cI gave them to Shirley.\u201d<\/span><\/div>\n
\u201cWhy did you do that?\u201d<\/span><\/div>\n
\u201cShe needed them more than me.\u201d<\/span><\/div>\n

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Shirley doesn\u2019t come to Manna House everyday.\u00a0 Sometimes she is in the neighborhood but doesn\u2019t come up the street to Manna House.\u00a0 On some of those days, you can hear her shouting as she walks up and down the sidewalks.\u00a0 Occasionally we can cajole her into taking a shower.\u00a0 And almost every time she comes in for a shower she needs shoes.\u00a0 Her mental illness is so difficult that she has a hard time keeping shoes.\u00a0 I\u2019d guess there are times when she loses them.\u00a0 Other times, I\u2019d guess her shoes get stolen, either while she sleeps, or when she gets \u201cjumped.\u201d<\/span><\/span><\/div>\n

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Once we opened today we got Jacob another pair of shoes.\u00a0 He was happy with them.\u00a0 Later than morning Shirley did come to Manna House briefly for some coffee. \u00a0She was pretty calm and Jacob\u2019s shoes looked quite good on her.\u00a0 Jacob\u2019s gift set the tone for the day, and somehow the old Spiritual got a little closer to reality:<\/span><\/span><\/div>\n

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\u201cI\u2019ve got shoes, you\u2019ve got a shoes<\/span><\/div>\n
All of God\u2019s children got shoes<\/span><\/div>\n
When I get to Heaven goin\u2019 to put on my shoes<\/span><\/div>\n
Goin\u2019 to walk all over God\u2019s Heaven.\u201d<\/span><\/div>\n

<\/u><\/span><\/p><\/div>\n


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As a guest in the clothing room was picking out clothes prior to going in for a shower, a new volunteer helpfully asked, \u201cWhat are you looking for in a shirt?\u201d\u00a0 A finer question indicating respect for the guest\u2019s choice could not have been asked.<\/span><\/div>\n

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Among the new guests at Manna House today was a man named \u201cLazarus.\u201d\u00a0 I was very pleased when I got to call his name in the backyard for him to come into the house a
\nnd take his shower.\u00a0 \u201cLazarus, come forth!\u201d<\/span><\/span><\/div>\n

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He got up, walked into the house, and changed out of his \u201cburial\u201d clothes, in which there surely was a stench, into some fresh clean clothes.\u00a0 If he wasn\u2019t quite raised from the death of homelessness, he was at least ready to walk again among the living.<\/span><\/div>\n

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\n
\n
\u201cI\u2019ve got a robe, you\u2019ve got a robe<\/span><\/span><\/div>\n
All of God\u2019s children got a robe<\/span><\/span><\/div>\n
When I get to Heaven goin\u2019 to put on my robe<\/span><\/span><\/div>\n
Goin\u2019 to shout all over God\u2019s Heaven.\u201d<\/span><\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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


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by Peter Gathje R3 Contributor He told me later he didn\u2019t want me to think he was drawing attention to himself; he just wanted to help some one in need.\u00a0 When I came to Manna House this morning around\u00a06:30a.m., Jacob was standing near the gate along with six other guests.\u00a0 They were patiently waiting for […]<\/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-683","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"\nJacob's Gift<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"by Peter GathjeR3 ContributorHe told me later he didn\u2019t want me to think he was drawing attention to himself; he just wanted to help some one in\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/rhetoricraceandreligion\/2014\/05\/jacobs-gift.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Jacob's Gift\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"by Peter GathjeR3 ContributorHe told me later he didn\u2019t want me to think he was drawing attention to himself; 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