The Old Blue Coat and the Church

Immaturity has consequences

The highway seemed to Frank to be going forever. He sighed with relief when he saw the Minneapolis/St. Paul skyline. The heater in his pickup quit working days ago. “ I hope I have enough gas,” Frank muttered.

A few days earlier, Frank stood next to his attorney in a courtroom in Clearwater Florida. Somehow, he was at fault, his wife Liz was blameless as the Angel she pretended to be.

His kids were not a priority

Frank had visitation rights, unsupervised, “Thank God for that.” Frank thought more than once. What he wasn’t thankful for, was the alimony and child-support payments. Frank’s ex-wife scored in a big way.

When his pickup started to sputter, Frank coasted to the shoulder. He grabbed his backpack from the floor of the pickup on the passenger side.

Frank’s philosophy, problems were solved by running from them

He left the keys in the ignition and the doors unlocked. He got out of the pickup and walked toward the city. He found a bus stop, and he spent the last of his money, but he found the shelter.

It wasn’t cold enough for the shelter to let anyone in. They wouldn’t open until four in the afternoon. Frank asked for directions to the library.

The unfamiliar sites didn’t register in Frank’s consciousness. He didn’t want to think about his ex-wife and their kids, but he couldn’t help it.

Booze took what little common sense he had left

“ How was it all my fault?” He thought as he passed the Brazilian Steakhouse. “ I bet the food is good there, and expensive.” With visions of sizzling steaks in his mind, Frank kept walking until he came to the library.

He signed up to get a library card at the desk, then he sat at an unoccupied computer and signed in. “ What the Hell?” He whispered.

You can only hurt people so much

“ She and the boys didn’t waste any time,” he thought, his family had blocked him on Social Media. Frank couldn’t call them, he tried, But his wife had blocked his cellphone number.

Frank spent the morning on social media, he stayed at the library until the urge became too much. He left the library and went looking for a liquor store.

Another bad decision, Frank was good at that

He spent the last of his cash on a bottle of vodka and a burger and some fries and a soda. He found a park next to a catholic church. He ate his lunch and got trashed.

He stumbled to the shelter, as the snow started falling. When he arrived at the shelter his teeth were chattering from the cold. the security guard let him into the waiting area.

Frank sat there watching the other guys file in. He wasn’t the only one who was under the influence. He sat and stayed quiet. A guy sitting a few feet down from him decided to start something.

“ What are you looking at?” The man yelled at the guy sitting across from him. “ What’s your problem?” The guy he was yelling at sat there unmoving. He didn’t respond at all.

It wasn’t the first time violence almost broke out

The guy doing the yelling lunged from his chair. The guy sitting next to him stood up and pulled a pocketknife from his pocket. They stood over the guy and threatened him.

Frank wondered if he was going to see someone die. “ I feel for you.” he thought, “ I don’t care either.” The guy stared at the two with the knife. They got bored and sat down.

• ************************************************************

Steve was a good man, too bad he couldn’t help Frank

Two weeks later, the freezing weather warmed up enough to snow. Frank was using the computer at the library. Volunteers were at the church across the street from the shelter.

It was a few weeks before Thanksgiving. Steve, one of the volunteers helped stack the last of the donated clothing on one of the tables.

He headed to the table where the Deacons were handing out stacks of flyers. Steve took a handful and headed to the homeless shelter. He handed out flyers and gave directions to the church.

****************************************************************

“ Damn, I’m going to freeze to death,” Frank muttered and cursed as he trudged down the slush-covered street. He got to the shelter in time to find a seat.

Thirty minutes later, after wolfing down a meal in the dining room. Frank was sitting in the waiting area when Steve walked through the room handing out flyers.

The Blue Coat was a Godsend

“ I wonder what’s that all about?” Frank thought as he watched the man with the flyers working the room. He stopped in front of Frank and handed him a flyer.

“ I’m from the church across the street, we have clothes and snacks, come on over and see what we have,” Frank thanked the man.

It’s too cold in Minneapolis to wear a Denim Jacket

He accepted the flyer and looked it over. He saw that the church had winter coats to give away. Frank got up and hurried to the church.

“ May I help you?” Frank smiled a bemused smile. The people in the church were wholesome and kind. Frank wasn’t used to that. Frank didn’t waste any time. He needed to get back if he wanted a chair.

He got his coat, but he still hadn’t grown up

“ I need a winter coat.” He answered. The volunteer-led Frank to a table piled high with donated coats. A few minutes later Frank left the shelter after allowing the volunteer to pray for him. He was wearing a blue, fur-lined winter coat.

“ At least it has deep pockets.” Frank thought the next day. Frank sat in the chair looking out the picture window at the library. He was feeling sorry for himself.

It was a few days before Christmas. Frank picked up his backpack and headed out the door of the library. He pulled the hood of his coat up over his head.

His ex emptied the account, as she should have

Frank stopped on a street corner and took the cardboard sign from his backpack. He stood there holding the sign. In an hour, he had enough to buy a bottle of cheap vodka.

He was buzzing pretty well when he headed back to the shelter. He ran into a few guys he had become friendly with. One of his new buds had a fifth of vodka.

Some people have to learn the hard way

Twenty minutes later, Frank was blind drunk. He got separated from the other guys as the snow came down harder. Frank passed out in an alley.

A cop on patrol found Frank’s body the next day covered in snow. The Coroner’s office donated his clothes to the church across from the shelter.

Damn, that coat looked familiar

Two nights later, Steve was stacking clothes on the table. He looked up when he saw the big man in a too-small Denim jacket. “ I’m staying at the shelter across the street, and I need a heavy coat.”

“ I have one that’s not in too bad of shape,” Steve answered. The homeless man tried on the blue coat, it was a good fit. Steve talked to the man and prayed with him.

“ God be with you,” Steve whispered as the big man left the church wearing his coat. “ I hope you find what you’re looking for, and I wish you peace.”

Three years later:

The blue coat saved the big man’s life. In time, a caseworker found him a place to stay. He had two years in Transitional housing. He had met a woman online.

She lived in another state, a state with a warmer climate. The big man left the coat at the shelter when the woman bought him a plane ticket.

The Bluecoat is blessing people to this day

The big man married the woman and they lived a happy and long life. He had left the blue coat in the closet in his room where he was staying.

That year, in November. Steve was back at Church. He was stacking clothes on the same table when a man walked up to him holding a flyer.

The coat gave Frank a chance he didn’t take, we will never know if the coat gave anyone else a chance

“ Hi, I’m staying at the shelter at night, and I need a winter coat.” Steve reached for a coat he thought would fit the big man. The thought nagged at him.

“ This coat seems familiar.” He laughed to himself, “ My mind is playing tricks on me.” He chatted with the homeless man and prayed with him.

The coat didn’t return to the church. It stayed with the homeless man. He had vanished into the streets and the homeless way of life. He was invisible, like all the other long-term homeless.