Warren, MI. Very few give much thought to parking lots. And why would we? They are simply a place to leave our cars, so we can get to our true destination, whatever it might be. Famous singer Joni Mitchell once lamented in her famous song Big Yellow Taxi, “They paved paradise and put up a parking lot.” While parking lots do serve a purpose, we have to destroy beautiful trees, grass, and possibly some wildlife, to have them. But thankfully our God can make an even greater beauty come alive again in these seemingly lifeless places. Beauty in the human soul. And that’s exactly what we’ll see in today’s story.
The following report comes to us from Br. John from our Society of Evangelists in Warren, MI:
I was waiting in a church parking lot for our snowboarding group to organize. A woman named Carolyn came by and asked me about the church’s soup kitchen. Unfortunately, this was my first time visiting this parish, so I didn’t know any details. We continued chatting and then I asked her if she needed prayer for anything because I love to pray for people. She mentioned ther health, especially her heart and other diagnoses and the sad state of the world. We prayed and she was very receptive.
Afterwards, I asked her if she was Catholic, and she said she was Seventh Day Adventist. I invited her to think about visiting the church some time as they are really something to behold on the inside. She was very grateful for our encounter and we ended by thanking and praising God before hurrying out of the cold.
Praised be Jesus Christ!