“I give you a new commandment, that you love one another. Just as I have loved you, you also should love one another. By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.” (John 13:34-35)

Sometimes we sit at the steps of the cathedral where we meet the children and nothing happens. Some of them are around but they don’t seem to be interested in us. They are too “busy”, the kind of busyness that has something to do with drugs. It is best to leave it at that. It does leave us on the steps where nothing is happening. I sit and wonder what am I going to write about this week. I don’t write to report about something. This is not my vocation. I write to reflect on God’s presence in our midst. Unfortunately, it is hard to reflect when nothing happens.

This is not entirely true. Something always is occurring. The problem is that my mind is focused on what I want to see. No doubt this is the problem. I am so fixated with one thing that I miss the obvious. Jesus warned us about this, “Do you have eyes, and fail to see? Do you have ears, and fail to hear? “ There are people all around me. They have always been here; the homeless adults in their different stages of intoxication, countless of “regular” people hustling to accomplish their mundane activities, a makeshift poor person’s fair where everything from old shoes to stolen cell phones are sold, tourists looking painfully foreign and vulnerable walking up and down the steps of the Cathedral and not to mention, the few dogs that belong to all the homeless but to no one in particular. Where there are people, there is always something happening. Jesus also told us when two or three gathered in His Name, He is always present. It can be argued that none of these people are gathered in His Name. It is true that they did not make a deliberate decision to meet at the steps for religious purposes. Most of the homeless are here because they have no where else to go. However, we are here because of Jesus. We are two people and so, Jesus must be here. I just need to stop looking for things that I want to see and open my eyes and ears to sense what God is doing in our midst.

Wallace came up to the steps. He had two huge bags. They have been gradually increasing in size over the past few days. He has been slowly accumulating some donated clothes and even bought a pair of old tennis shoes from the poor person’s fair. He sat himself next to us. He has been doing well this past few days. He is not allowing drugs to dominate his life like he did a few weeks ago. He has been doing his writing exercises faithfully. Albeit, he does it only for a few minutes a day. Today, he just wanted to rest. He was tired. The homeless are always tired. They have no place to rest their heads. Every place they choose to lie down permeates with noise and danger. They can never rest peacefully. Drugs help them to shut out all the fear and anxiety. Unfortunately, it also turns away everything that edifies their souls.

Our eyes rested on a woman who walked passed us. She always passes through at the same time. She is blind. This made her stand out to us although, for many, she still is one of the countless anonymous people that walk through this area. She manages herself so effectively that one could easily overlook that she is visually impaired. She has become so familiar to us without knowing her. Strangely, we also sense her absence on certain days. She has become part of our life without her knowledge. We noted some changes in her life. Soon, she will be taking care of a baby. Of course, we don’t know if it is going to be for the first time. We have never spoken to her. Wallace blurted out that she was not completely blind. She could see images but they are just blurry to her. In spite of this, she is able to do a lot of things on her own. I was astonished that Wallace knew so much about this woman, at least more than me. Apparently, she was not a complete stranger to him. The children and teens have spoken to her. We watch her walk by everyday. It is unlikely that we would ever speak to her. Wallace, on the other hand, refused to allow this woman be anonymous. He reached out to her.

Next day, we sat by the steps again, same as the day before. Nothing was happening initially. A young man came to us and asked us if we wanted to buy some candies that looked extremely unappetizing. He wasn’t disappointed when we refused to buy any. He knew that the quality of his product. He sat close to us and looked a little depressed. A homeless man walked by and asked us if he could sit next to us. He said that he was tired and just wanted to rest. He sat down next to me and said that there is no place to rest in this city. I am not sure if his statement was to be taken literally or spiritually but it is true in both senses. The young candy seller stood up and commented that there is so much injustice in this world that it is hard to find a place for any of us to rest here. He started talking about his life how he has to work a regular job and then sell cheap candies on the side to pay rent and eat. The homeless man added that he worked for a long time and now he has absolutely nothing except the clothes on his body. Two anonymous men with a tragic and difficult life who have no one to share their story. They turned their attention towards us. They did not want anything from us except for our attention. We had nothing concrete to say to them. Again, the word, “nothing” manifest its presence in this post. These two men wanted us to say something, anything. They were just tired from being alone and anonymous in this city. They just wanted to find a place to rest. They did deserve some words from us. We just agreed with them that life is unjust. Our accent gave us away and they turned their attention from their tragic life to our countries of origin. They shared that once dreamed about going to foreign lands. The homeless man even shared that he lived in Paraguay once. The situation was there was worse than Brazil. He married someone from there and she turned around and cheated on him. Now, he has nothing to dream about anymore. The younger man was just confused why we were living in Brazil when we could be in the States. For him, anywhere but Brazil was paradise. He was a simple young man who comes from the interior of the State of São Paulo. He came to the city hoping to find a better life for himself and his family. Now, he is on the steps of the Cathedral trying to sell enough candy so that he could eat and rest.

They did not expect to say some magic phrases that would make all their misery vanish. They know that there are no simple solutions in this life. Nevertheless, they seemed happy to just have a genuine conversation with someone. The homeless man said that one day he is going to make it. I am not sure what “it” meant for him. That wasn’t important. For a brief moment, he was someone to somebody. The young candy seller still looked depressed. Then, Wanderson showed up. We said our goodbyes to our new “friends” and went to do some activity with him. The homeless man was sincerely happy that we conversed together and he stood there for a minute trying to find something significant to say. Finally, he said in the little English he could conjure up; “bye-bye”. These simple words was his gift to us.

Jesus gives us a new and final commandment; “Just as I have loved you, you should also love one another.” The “other” is the person who spends his or her life in anonymity. This is really greater part of humanity which includes you and me. The media and even churches focus on the famous and influential people. Jesus dwelt among the anonymous ones like the blind lady who walks pass us everyday or the homeless man who has no place to rest. These people are the “other” that we are told to love the way Jesus loved us. These are the ones who need to know that even though they are anonymous, they are not insignificant. After all, this is the most important thing. I like being anonymous but I don’t want to be insignificant. Wallace made sure that the blind woman knew that her presence marked his life. She was a stranger but she did occupy a space in his life.

Jesus was quite specific. He did not say to love in some ambiguous manner. He is the model. He sought people who were anonymous: the “regular” people who are just trying to find a place to rest. Jesus went to where these people were and loved them. He did not wait for something to happen. He just loved them by letting them know that they are someone to Him. I have been waiting for something to happen but actually, God just wants us to love the other when absolutely nothing happens. Nothing occurs everyday. Love is not a tool for us wield in a moment of crisis. It is a lifestyle that brings healing and joy to those who trying to find their way in the everyday drudgery of life.

There is much to learn when nothing happens. There is much to reflect on God’s presence in the nothingness.