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Had a nice chat with my sister last night. She’s been busy. So have I. We haven’t talked in about 5 days which is a long time for us. Despite our apparent difference, we still have so much in common. (besides that ol’ Smith superior gene pool)

a)tiny, adorable dog with ‘bladder control’ issues.
b)jobs the put us into contact with people who clearly need help that we cannot give them.

Last Saturday an idigent and mentally-ill man (how do I know he was mentally ill? He told me the last time I helped him.) came into the rectory looking for help. He said he was out of money and also in pain, having used up the last of his pain meds. In these situations, we direct people to the police department which administers a fund of money and resources pooled by all the churches in town. He said he couldn’t go there because it had been too close to his last visit to the police. I told him no one was home to help him (not an especially good move if he had decided to slash my throat, but I decided it was worth the try to get him out the door.) After he was gone I remembered why no one was home. Everyone was in the church for the afternoon Confirmation liturgy. I prayed hastily that he not crash the service (these things have been known to happen) and called the police to discuss the situation. They came back later - when he came back to see if anyone was home to help him - and the last I saw was an officer talking to him on the sidewalk.

These situations break my heart. A bi-polar man is not really in need of law enformcement. Though he refuses to go to shelters because the noise level is too upsetting (That let’s me off the hook from having to bring him home. If he finds the shelter chaotic and loud, my home may be worse.) and is indigent, law enforcement doesn’t seem to be the most efficient avenue for help. But we’re not living in a Bugs Bunny cartoon. There is no white van with little men in white coats to help the confused/ill/drug-addled.

Which brings me to my sister’s dilemma. She was called in by the Victim/Witness coordinator to consult on a call in which a woman claimed that she and her daughter were being molested. At night. By ‘spiritual forces.’ My sister had to explain that if the woman was sure it was not a tangible human being that could possibly be assaulting them, there was nothing the District Attorney’s office could do. Then the Coordinator tried to steer the woman to appropriate spiritual/mental health resources.

So that’s how it stands in our little world. People who need police help come to the church. People who need spiritual help call the DA.

Karen and I devised a mock-up all purpose form for all helping institutions.

PLEASE CIRCLE ALL APPLICABLE FIELDS
a) plagued by incubus
b) plagued by succubus
c) poor
d) mentally-ill, with services the well-to-do take for granted totally out of reach