Sunday was quite the usual day at Church for Faith and me...quite the usual in that the unusual showed up. Take for instance:

-During the middle of singing, a lady in our small group came over to us knowing that Faith and I have adopted injured or abandoned birds. She took Faith over to a spot under the bridge where some baby pigeons had fallen out of their nest. One had died, the other was still very much healthy and alive. So, as our pastor preached on the Radical Reformation, Faith sat next me and hand fed an ugly, baby, pigeon.

-In front of us was a homeless man named Donald. I've never seen him at church before, which really doesn't mean much at a place like Church Under the Bridge. It's quite possible that Donald is as active, or even more so, than we are. Anyways, Donald was a very kind man who loved his bananas. He seemed to visit the lunch table several times throughout the morning in order to load up on his stash. Meeting and talking with Donald only reinforced the fact that the homeless are all as unique as those of us not homeless. We rich folk tend to group all the homeless into one category--with words like drug addicts, crazy, veterans, etc. In reality, they only make up a fraction of the homeless...as do children, who actually make up one of the largest groups of homeless. That said, every single homeless person is alike in that they all are completely unique and human. Humanity is an attribute we often withhold from those in need.

And finally,
-In front of Donald sat a girl who was a Baylor student. (Now if there's ever a group of people who it's safe to label, it's these folks! Just kidding Faith...and Kurt...and all my other Bear friends/family.) Anyways, this girl had a sorority shirt on that read,

Barbie wears the cutest clothes
Barbie drives the finest cars
Barbie dates the hottest guys
Barbie must be an A-D-Pi!

In addition to the little saying, each line had the appropriate (or inappropriate, I guess would be safer to say) illustration to go along with it. At first, I simply rolled my eyes at yet another example of idiocy among Greek life at major universities. But then I forced myself to remember that Baylor wasn't just any other university, or at least isn't supposed to be. It's one of the largest Christian universities in the world. It's got a bright, young seminary and a well-established school for social work. So what's going on?!?! How did such an institution allow the social order of fraternities and sororities, which commonly promote exclusivity, materialism, promiscuity, and, at times, alcoholism?

I found myself getting angry at my neighbor from Baylor just a few feet from me. But then I realized that I had grouped, labeled, and packaged her in mere seconds without even meeting her. An injustice that, as I said, frustrates me as it often happens towards the poor.

Donald and I said our g'byes. Faith found a box and put the bird in it. Then we went home.

Perhaps next week, I'll be able to focus on the sermon and not on birds and Bears.