Tuesday in the Fourth Week of Lent

Marvelous Truth,
confront usAt every turn
In every guise -- Denise Levertov

I watched 60 Minutes last night to see what the President had to say about the economy and his first 2 months in office. But the truth confronted me after the segment on the President with a story about a man, gifted in playing the Bass, schooled at Julliard, and now homeless in LA. The story was moving and provacative about a man who had found his way into Paranoia, but was being cared for by a newspaper man and members of the LA symphony.

But the "marvelous truth that confronted me" was a single line in the story. 60,000 people are homeless and live on the streets of LA every night. I called a friend in California to ask if that was possible and his reaction was that the number was probably 2 to 3 times more and getting much worse. The single line was not the point of the story. It was about a talented musician who had been befriended. Yet I can't get past the truth told in a different context.

We need to add to our prayers a request that at every turn we see our world with "open eyes." "Open eyes" to see and try and find solutions. "Open eyes to see suffering behind beauty; and yes, beauty in those who suffer."