Cindy's New Hairdo and Hope

A small, birdlike woman in her late 40′s or early fifties, she is older than most of the folks out here. She walks with a limp and has what my grandmother would have called a lazy eye. Sometimes she sleeps in a shelter, sometimes she sleeps outside and sometimes she sleeps at a friend’s house. Lately, she has had a room in a small rooming house. Let’s call her Cindy.

Last week I saw Cindy had, in her words, “had her hair did”. She had bought a home perm kit with her first of the month check and had a friend perm her hair. She just glowed and glowed, showing off her new hairstyle.

Cindy and I are at a point in our relationship where we can kid each other a bit.

“Are you on the prowl for a new man?” I ask her.

“Honey, they are on the prowl for me!” she sasses back.

Small joys, like a new hair do or a new place to live. The value of feeling pretty, in a world where bathing sometimes gets pushed to the back burner. Joking and laughing. Small things, but good things.

These small glimpses of joy in a very bleak world are what keep me believing in a gospel of redemption, of resurection, of restoration. Just like the smell of pies baking make me hungry for the pie itself, these small windows of joy show me the merest glimpse of what the Kingdom of God will be like when it comes to it’s fullness.