Crosspoint

Then God ordered me, "Start all over: Love your wife again, your wife who's in bed with her latest boyfriend, your cheating wife. Love her the way I, God, love the Israelite people, even as they flirt and party with every god that takes their fancy."
(Hosea 3:1 The Message)
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There's a guy who used to come into Uno's sometimes. He will order a coffee and sit at a booth in the bar. He's really just coming in to get out of the cold. Whatever is on TV, he'll just watch it for 2 or 3 or 4 hours. Sometimes much more. He also has a beat up old notebook that he sometimes writes in. The thing is, nobody wants to wait on him. In fact no other customers even want to sit near him. We gave him the nickname Stinky. I had him last time he came in. I'd like to say I tried my hardest to treat him my best. But that would be a lie. I simply endured him. Nobody has even bothered to learn his name or what he writes in that book.
I'm ashamed of my part in the way he has been treated. I'm ashamed that I haven't been more loving, that I haven't had more compassion. But the fact is, some people are hard to love. Some people, for whatever reason have acted in ways that are beyond what we would call social norms and seem to desire, or at least justify our scorn. Perhaps they have been hurt one too many times and no longer want anyone to get close enough to do it again. Perhaps they have been in a downward spiral for so long they don't know how to pull out. For whatever reason they are the man who has been robbed, beat up, and left for dead on the side of the road. And I am the Levite who walks by on the other side.
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I can see it. Hosea calls up a babysitter to come watch the kids. (They used to be called "Auschwitz", "Not Loved", and "Not Mine". Now they go by the names "He Plants", "Loved One" and "My Child") The babysitter arrives and he hops into his car to head downtown. Getting to a run down old building he pays the bouncer and heads downstairs. The music is unfamiliar and loud. The air is slightly cloudy. He joins a group of guys who are looking down on the dance floor where most of the girls and some other guys are gyrating to the music.
Hosea doesn't have to search long to find her. There she is in the middle of a group. Her arms entwined around the latest guy to catch her eye. Hosea's knuckles are white as he watches them dance for a moment. Getting his anger under control, taking a deep breath, and building up his nerve, he walks down into the chaos.
She sees him and calls out his name as he gets close. She calls out, "Hosea!" He ducks his head down and hopes... prays that no one in here might recognize him. As he gets closer she shouts over the music, "So you've finally decided to join us! Come on baby!" Now she's trying to dance in between him and this other guy.
At first Hosea tries to grab her wrist and pull her away. She breaks free and slaps him. He's about to try again when he notices that at least two bouncers are watching and one is casually making his way in their direction. Instead he pulls her close and says in her ear, "Let's go somewhere private."
"But I'm having so much fun."
"Are you really?"
For some reason the question freezes her. She stands there looking at him. Her eyes are glassed over. The makeup does a poor job of hiding the sunken look of someone who has not slept in days. She has lost far too much weight and there is a bruise on her upper arm that the shirt almost covers. That bruise isn't the only thing the shirt isn't quite covering. A sweat drop runs from her forehead down the side of the face. Her breath smells of alcohol and something more he doesn't recognize.
"OK." She says, "I'll talk. But that's all. I'm not going back home and you are going to buy me a drink."
They walk over to an even darker area where the music seems to be not quite as loud. Hosea's ears are ringing as he pauses to let his eyes adapt to the darkness. As he sees who else in nearby and what they're doing Hosea wishes he could go back to being almost blind.
"OK." Gomer says, "You've got me here. What do you want?"
"You. I want you back."
"Impossible."
"Nothing is impossible."
"This is." She shows him where she has been sticking the needle. "See these. I'm in over my head. I can't pay for it anymore. I owe too much and now I'm being loaned out for favors. You take me home we're both dead."
For a moment Hosea stands there speechless. How did she let it get this far. He is right about to turn around and walk away when he remembers what he was told. "Take her back." God's command was clear. It didn't change. So he looked right into those sunken eyes and said, "I'll take you back. Somehow I'll work it out with this guy."
"Even if you could... why?"
"Because God told me to."
"Not good enough. I'm not going to be another of your religious projects. I'm not just the punch line of your sermons."
"Because you're worth more to me than you are to him."
She rolls her eyes. There's a pause in the music as the DJ starts to say something. Hosea steps up close. Their noses are almost touching. In the quietest voice that can still be heard he says, "Gomer. No matter what you've done. No matter who you have become. I still love you."
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