Annie Vocature Bullock

Real Austin: the Homeless and the Image of God Annie Vocature Bullock

Christianity is simple. Love God. Love your neighbor. The rest is commentary. Simple in theory becomes much more difficult when your neighbor is a man in a dress who stinks like urine and a decaying, unwashed body. And yet, that's exactly who you find on a downtown bus: the homeless, the unsavory, the just plain weird. Drawing on the wisdom of the Desert Fathers and Mothers, this book explores one woman's complex and ambivalent interactions with the homeless. Stories about a persistent failure to acknowledge and honor the humanity of the homeless are evidence of the pervasive reality of human sin. But at the same time, there are moments of genuine kindness and humanity that stand as reminders that God brings new life from the brokenness of sin. These stories of days spent on a downtown bus move from unflinching self-reflection to a new awareness of God's presence. This is where the abstract becomes local, and where theology finally gets real.