Being Present to Others in Baltimore on Ash Wednesday….

To the man who shared his fear of being killed on the streets
To the woman whose mother died at 2:30 this morning
To the man who is thankful for his new job at Amazon
To the woman who holds onto faith and not luck
To the man who was hit by a MTA bus in January
To the woman who cried in my arms after a recent diagnosis
To the 17 men and women who the Gold Line bus completely bypassed on North Ave
To the man who told me he likes my smile
To the man whose nickname is Smiley
To the woman who declined ashes but came back 30 minutes later for ashes
To the women and men who distribute coffee and muffins every Wednesday on North Ave
To the man who played his violin and sang sweet melodies
To the man who told me to tell my husband that “He is one lucky guy”
To the woman whose best friend is in hospice care
To the man who asked if I will be back tomorrow
To the many who stopped by to say hello
To the man who asked hard biblical and theological questions
To the woman who reminisced about Vacation Bible School as a kid
To the man who I saw on North Ave and then again on Glenwood Ave
To the man who bought me a bag of Cheez-It Snap’d
To the woman who felt the urge to use this morning
To the man whose been clean for 263 days
To the man who is always Facebook live streaming
To the woman who shared her stories about growing up Catholic

Thank you. Thank you for trusting me with your sacred stories, your pain, your joy, your sorrow, your life. Baltimore, day after day, I keep discovering your inner beauty and strength. I love you.