The Stamp of Humanity

Mike is the guy you see with stringy long hair, a dirt-smudged face, and in a state so unsettling your eyes quickly shift a different direction. He's usually shaking his fist at the sky and/or mumbling barely recognizable things. To the average bystander, he's the one you smile at if you’re brave but then, you know, stay away from. But to me, Mike is the one who held my hand on the bench and prayed for me while my anxious breaths eased and teary eyes soothed at the comforting sound of carefully worded kindness. I remember it every time I see him.

My day had been terrible. Stuck uptown until traffic subsided, I'd gone for a walk through Fourth Ward Park when I saw him sitting on one of the benches. We recognized each other, he waved hello, I stopped, and he asked how I was. I admitted my day had been pretty rough. I forget the details of my troubles but I remember I sat beside him for a few minutes while he listened. Then, looking sheepishly towards me, he responded. “Hey, I really don't do this, but, can I pray for you?" “Yes.” We sat together, on the bench, held hands, and he prayed for me.

The next time I remember seeing him he couldn't recognize me and became fearfully upset when I knew his name. I quickly apologized and left. It’s been three years since that moment, spotting him every now and again, walking the streets alone. Sometimes he remembers me and is excited to say hello, but most times I am ignored as his concentration is fixed upon whatever voice he hears in front of him. Still. He is Mike. The guy who held my hand and prayed for me when I was sad.

It’s quite easy to section certain people off as unwanted, not because they’re any less than us of course but...aren’t they dangerous? Maybe. But aren’t you? Relationships of any kind require an element of risk. Who’s to say either end will keep their word much less follow the same set of rules and expectations? Are we not all bound to danger in some regard seeing as we are all the same concoction of skin, bones, and inevitable failure?

But there is another element we share – etched into the fabric of our humanity is our ability to love. We hope for grandiose gestures or at least consistency, but sometimes our capacity to love is small and unseen, brought out only by the lure of another’s lack and the realization that we do, after all, have something to offer.

It’s an important reminder of the stamp of humanity we all wear – bound to fail, but able to love. You, me, and Mike.