Grace is Gone

His skin was leathery and his hair thick. His eyes were like fog in the morning, covered in haze. His words were few.

I often wonder how many end up on the streets after a broken heart, perhaps because of something they did to their significant other while in a relationship? Once on the street, do they experience the social pains of being unlike those around them or made fun of by passing motorist?

Naomi Eisenberger of the University of Califiornia-Los Angeles wrote about the hurt in what she called social pain in a magazine titled "Current Directions in Psychological Science." She wrote, “Rejection is such a powerful experience for people." Her research found that brain activity in people with real physical pain was very similar to the brain images of someone who had experienced social rejection.

But why? “I think it’s probably there for a reason—to keep us connected to others,” she says.

“Neon shines through smoky eyes tonight
It’s 2 am - I’m drunk again it’s heavy on my mind
I could never love again so much as I love you
Where you end where I begin is like a river going through
Take my eyes take my heart I need them no more
If never again they fall upon the one I so adore”

-Dave Matthews Band, Grace is Gone

Avoid like the Bubonic Plague?

His hair blew in the wind as he cussed at those who walked by. One woman flipped him off as she stumbled past him after what looked to be a day of drinking for her and a friend. Another woman nearly walked into the street to avoid close contact with him. It was as if they feared him like one would have feared the Bubonic Plague between the years of 1000 and 1352. During those years, 340 million people died of the plague (The Black Death). 

However, I knew him and knew that he was not going to harm anyone. I walked up to him while sitting down and quietly asked, “How are you today?” He smiled, “I’m good, how are you?” His attitude changed drastically as we talked and he calmed down as if everything was perfectly fine. 

“Have you seen your friend Kristin lately,” I asked him knowing that she talks to him whenever she is in town. “She was here a couple of weeks ago, but she moved away,” he told me. He then started talking about her and the pictures she took of him while under the bridge where he goes weekly for food and a warm meal thanks to the Nashville Bridge Ministry. 

Kristin is one of the many volunteers who have helped to make The Bridge Ministry a success in Nashville, TN. Those who volunteer meet under the Jefferson Street Bridge on Tuesday evenings. 

“We think sometimes that poverty is only being hungry, naked and homeless. The poverty of being unwanted, unloved and uncared for is the greatest poverty. We must start in our own homes to remedy this kind of poverty.” - Mother Teresa