Cranberries | Teen Ink

Cranberries

January 9, 2010
By mads942 SILVER, Houston, Texas
mads942 SILVER, Houston, Texas
6 articles 0 photos 24 comments

I watched sadly as the line of scraggly homeless people stumbled out the glass door of my church fellowship hall. Families trudged across the patterned carpet, children, adults, and grandparents filed through the door, back to the poverty from which they came. However, there was a different quality to them that I hadn’t seen before they stepped into the building; I could tell that they were happier, more hopeful. They mingled and talked to the volunteers as they made their way out, faces brighter, smiling, and laughing. I remembered the thoughts I had before they walked through that door. How could I ever have been so insensitive? I had no idea the impact that their presence had on me until they were leaving. I turned away, suddenly melancholy, my mind wandering back to their arrival.

I was frightened, to say the least. I stood inside our church, leaning against a table with a cheery fall tablecloth that seemed far too superfluous for the occasion. How could we blatantly display this waste of money to people who don’t even have a roof over their heads? Volunteers scampered around the large, light room, adding final Thanksgiving- themed festoons everywhere around me, but I was glued in place. How am I supposed to treat someone who has so little when I have so much? Everything was so unknown and foreign; my mind was burning with unanswered questions that sounded too naïve and childish to voice. Would they be friendly? How many were coming? What would they sound like? What would they smell like? I realized that I had no idea how to act in this situation, and it caught me off guard. However, I didn’t have much time to prepare myself, because at that very moment, the first guest walked in. I lingered in the corner until the very last moment, watching him limp through the entryway, and then ventured forward to pull out chairs for the multitudinous crowd gathering in the fellowship hall.

However, by the time I had taken a few steps from my safe corner, our pastor stepped up to the microphone at the head of the room and began to utter a word of welcome.

“Hello to all of our guests today, and we are so glad that you could join us for this special Thanksgiving feast,” he began. “If everyone could please stop and bow their heads, I would like to say a prayer to the Lord for allowing us to all be here this day,” he continued.

My mind immediately began to wander back to the insecurities I had dwelled on all morning. I bowed my head, but I wasn’t listening. I followed my own tangent of thought until I realized what I was doing and forced my way back to reality to hear the end of the prayer. “And thank you, Lord, for blessing us with all of this food and good company here today. May we serve you in this meal, and may you speak to every person here today. Amen,” he finished.

“Amen,” the crowd mumbled in chorus. I took a deep breath and looked around for a way to make myself useful. All of a sudden I felt a hand on my back. I turned around to stare into the face of my Sunday school teacher, holding out a pair of plastic gloves.

“Would you mind working behind the counter? There’s a spot at the cranberry sauce,” she smiled.

“Sure,” I replied, taking the gloves, happy for a way to serve that would barely put me in two seconds of contact with each visitor. It flustered me that I was not being accepting and willing to learn from this experience, but I pushed that feeling deep inside myself and walked over to the other side of the room to ladle out the succulent maroon substance. I took a deep breath and prepared for my first person.
He was an old, weathered man, African-American, with a fuzzy gray beard and overgrown eyebrows. The skin on his face was sagging around his mouth, masking a sparse collection of yellowed, crooked teeth. He wore threadbare rags, too many layers for the mild weather, and faded white athletic shoes. Quietly declining my decadent sauce with a polite, barely detectable shake of the head, he moved on to adorn his turkey with gravy instead. After him came many more people of all races and sizes: children, adults, men, women, and infants – they filed through the line and began finding their places at the round tables positioned throughout the room. Each one was as kind as the first – no one bothered me, they all just seemed happy to be there. I began loosening up, and at the same time berating myself for my callous, insensitive behavior, although it was only in my head. I felt awful – here I was, so privileged, and yet I whined and fretted over a simple opportunity to help someone else. Although I was ashamed, I was also starting to realize that I was blessed in so many ways that I had never even imagined. After seeing the intense need of these people who owned basically nothing, I spooned sauce more zealously onto the outstretched Styrofoam plates, trying to connect with each person. I saw poverty literally pass before my eyes in the form of the food line, and I felt spoiled and ungrateful, unable to see beyond my own myopia and intolerance. I realized with a start that I was even more appalling than I had thought before, for I was given a chance to share God with someone else and was close to not taking it. Here I was with the perfect opportunity to help others and share the message of Christ, and I had been worried about myself; didn’t Jesus say, “Whatever you do to the least of these, you do to me”?

I turned over my serving spoon only when everyone had finished third and fourth helpings, clinging to my duty until I could see the bottom of the big clear bowl I was scooping from, holding on to the hope that one more person might have a need for cranberries. I had seen that they were less troubled than they were when they came in, and I longed to see the bright look on someone’s face one more time. It was only when I saw everyone lining up for the bus that I accepted the cessation and reluctantly placed the ladle in the sink.

I sighed, returning from my reverie back to the present as the last few people walked out of the door – a little girl holding her mother’s hand, tottering along, with a grubby face and shabby clothes. It made me glad that I had helped them maybe in some way to receive the gospel and enjoy the holiday. I realized today that Thanksgiving is more than just pumpkin pie; it is really a time to praise God for everything he has blessed us with. I understood that this experience completely changed my view on the world and made me much more grateful for everything that I have been granted. Although it might look like I had been the one helping the homeless people who came to our church on Thanksgiving, I know that they are truly the ones who helped me.


The author's comments:
I was really inspired to write this piece after I read the book "Same Kind of Different As Me" by Denver Moore and Ron Hall which deals with homelessness. I hope that after reading my narrative people will have a different view of the homeless.

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This article has 7 comments.


on Apr. 1 2010 at 7:37 pm
elfiewrites BRONZE, Hillsdale, New Jersey
3 articles 0 photos 114 comments

Favorite Quote:
"The seat of knowledge is in the head, of wisdom, in the heart."~William Hazlitt
"Be yourself, everyone else is taken."

I love this! Obviously, you wrote it directly from the heart, which makes it even better. If you get the chance, may you please comment on my work too? Thanks so much.

Elem Library said...
on Feb. 1 2010 at 1:27 pm
What a positive thing for a young person to share about an experience and what they realized from it. It makes an adult's heart happy. Great job!

on Jan. 29 2010 at 12:31 pm
To love with the heart, to see with the heart, and to write frim the heart, an amazing talent !

MsRentfro said...
on Jan. 25 2010 at 7:53 am
What a phenomenal story! As a writing teacher, I find it quite obvious when a student puts their heart into piece of work; it is easy to tell if they truly believe in what they are writing. Madison is obviously deeply, emotionally involved in her writing, but it is also apparent that she cares a great deal about those that she writes of. I can only hope that I am able to instill this wonderful talent in students of my own!

bljbrown said...
on Jan. 23 2010 at 4:11 pm
This story really touched my heart. Thank you for reminding me that living is really all about serving. We are to be Jesus to others.

MrsRentfro said...
on Jan. 23 2010 at 3:30 pm
MrsRentfro, Lewisville, Texas
0 articles 0 photos 1 comment
Cranberries moved me on many levels, but perhaps the deepest impression it left upon me was the fact that I have had exactly the same emotions as the author. I felt as if I was there in the church with her. It is wonderful to see a student who has found her voice and has such a strong social conscious.

Grandmother said...
on Jan. 22 2010 at 6:11 pm
I have always been proud of my grandchildren, and as I read this story written by my Madison I am filled with love and admiration for her and her perception of so many things far beyond her years.