Brutal Demands

Yesterday was a brutal day to be in the business of helping others! In this economy, business is booming and the need is relentless. It came to me like one wave after another, overwhelming at times and it was all that I could do to catch my breath.

I learned that Charles may have diabetes and refuses to see the doctor. Charles is my mentally ill adopted son who functions as the janitor at Union Mission. He has been with us for over ten years. His feet are swollen and he refuses to wear anything other than old flip flops that are now causing a fungus to develop on the already swollen feet. I dress him down in front of everyone ordered him to a shower then ordered staff to throw his clothes away while he was doing so. I asked that Dr. Pope be waiting on him when he gets out of the shower so that she can look at his feet.

In my office I call a retired clergyman whose daughter and husband are penniless, homeless and in very poor health. I’d gotten them enrolled at the J. C. Lewis Health Center and we are trying to help with housing. The clergyman and his wife are devastated. The more that we work with their kids however the more problems we find. Sometimes helping a poor couple is like peeling an onion. The clergyman's wife burst into tears as I am on the phone with her and my already broken heart breaks all over again.

A local family business is evidently falling apart with brothers and sisters not talking to one another. They call begging me to help. Where is this in the job description? But Union Mission is in the business of helping so we arrange for the possibility of a counseling intervention.

I get buzzed and am told that Charles is standing in the shower with his clothes on with nurses in with him ordering to take them off. He is telling him that women are not allowed in the men's restroom. I storm into the shower yelling at Charles who is now naked and bathing.

I return to my office and some woman staying on Tybee calls, begging me to come see her at the Roadway Inn. She told me that Gloria is a witch who has prevented her from talking to me for the past 3 years. I don’t think that I want to meet an outraged woman at a hotel is a good idea.

"Why don't you come here?" I ask, and she explains the GBI are involved and they may follow here and she doesn't want to talk on the phone and it would be better if I come there. I shake my head wondering how other President/CEO's field such calls.

I get buzzed again. Charles is out of the shower but refuses to be seen by Dr. Pope. I again storm into the men's dorm where Charles is at least dressed in clean clothes and again yell at him.

"See the doctor," I demand.

"Uh, no sir," he says with one hand on the top of his head that rests on top of his six foot tall body, and his eyes are closed and I know that he is in another one of the many universes that he occupies.

Frustrated I return to my office. I glance at the clock. It is only 10:30.

"To whom much is given, much will be demanded," says the Biblical verse. I've been given a lot in my life. The demands are now coming relentlessly. I got it God. Can we move on to the next lesson now?