Don’t Get on a Train Without a Ticket - by Helen Kretzmann
It is not uncommon for the church office to get calls from the Orthodox Prison Ministry. So, when I got a call asking if I would take a collect call from the Adams County Jail, I thought “oops, one of our flock has strayed, and they need help, and I am sure Father Lou or Father Evan would want to know.” So I took the call. It went something like this:
“My name is Harry, and I am very humbled to be making this call.”
“You are welcome. How can we help you, Harry ?”
“Well, I have been detained here at the jail and need some help getting out. I was told that I could bail myself out for $150, and I have $150 in my bank account, but they took my wallet away from me, and there is no ATM machine here.”
Curiosity gets the better of me. “Harry, why were you detained ?”
“I came from Washington D.C. I am trying to get to San Francisco, and I have no money, so I got on the train in Denver with no ticket, and I got arrested.”
“So how can I help you with that ?”
“I need someone to come here and get my ATM card, and I can give them the pin number, and they can go to an ATM machine and withdraw the $150 for me and come and bail me out”.
“Harry, where is the Adams County jail?”
“It’s in Brighton”.
“Harry, Brighton is a long way from Greenwood Village. Are you a parishioner here at St. Catherine’s?”
“Oh no, I am from Vietnam.”
“Do you have any friends or family nearby who you could call to come and help you ?”
“No, I am homeless right now, and my only family is in San Francisco.”
“Perhaps you could call a church in Brighton, or a parish that is closer to the jail than we are. Is there a Vietnamese church in Brighton ?”
“I have been going through the phone book calling all the churches and none of them take collect calls.” (Note to self: don’t take collect calls from jails.)
During this whole conversation, this is what was running through my mind (God forgive me). Ok, so this guy wants me to drop what I am doing, and drive up to Brighton – how far is that – an hour or more – and bail him out of jail. I can’t believe I took this call. How am I going to do that and be back in time to pick my kids up from school ? I can’t just leave the office. What if he is not telling the truth ? What if I get up there and he doesn’t have the money and I get embroiled in this complicated drama? What if he does have the money, and I get him out of jail, and then what – I’ll be standing in the parking lot of a jail with a homeless Vietnamese and what would I do with him ? He wouldn’t have a car, I’d have to take him somewhere. Or buy him a train ticket. I don’t want to get involved in this. So I said,
“Harry, I am sorry, I can’t help you with this problem.” And we said goodbye, and he thanked me again for listening, and I hung up.
And then the trouble started. I felt bad. I felt guilty for not helping him. What if he really was telling the truth, and it really was as simple as taking his ATM card, getting his money and getting him out of jail ? I could have made more of an effort to find a church in Brighton to help him out. Is it really a church’s job to be bailing people out of jail ? He isn’t even a parishioner here. He shouldn’t have gotten on the train without a ticket in the first place. And my mind went round and round and I couldn’t stop thinking about this call for days. I felt uncomfortable and disturbed.
I cannot presume to know what God’s hand in all this was. Perhaps it was a test for me. Perhaps it was to teach me something. What I was reminded of, is that helping people is not always convenient. Helping others might not fit neatly into our day. We can’t plan the timing of our misfortunes or needs. Helping others in a true sense, might mean that we may have to rearrange our schedules and make sacrifices. We may have to suffer a little bit ourselves. Perhaps we have to arrange for someone to pick our kids up from school or miss taking them to a sports practice so that we can make a caring visit or deliver a meal. Perhaps it was never meant for me to help Harry. But next time I get a Meal Angels list asking for a meal, or a friend needs me, I will be more conscious about putting aside my own plans and schedules and go to my friend in selflessness and service. I will try to feel less inconvenienced, and rejoice that I have an opportunity to help someone and be thankful that I have the resources to do it. I thank God for sending me Harry’s call, to remind me of this.
Helen Kretzmann