Here in Augusta, we have two streets that are very important. The first is Broad Street and the second, two blocks away, is Greene Street. The roads run parallel to the Savannah River, so they run from Northwest to Southeast. Between them is a single street, Ellis Street.
Broad Street is a divided, highly commercialized street. It has gone down significantly in recent years, but you can still see how it once was, with theaters and department stores. A walk along Broad is a pleasant walk, past restaurants and cafes and galleries and shops. There are large trees for shade and plenty of fancy and expensive garden work to admire.
Greene Street was (and still is) a professional street, filled with nice buildings, lawyer offices, beautiful churches. A walk along Greene Street is a wooded, shady, comfortable walk.
And between them is Ellis Street.
I walked along Ellis Street several times this week. A walk along Ellis Street is a walk without any shade, because there are no trees on Ellis Street. You cannot stop and look in at store windows, because there are no stores fronting on Ellis Street. It is not a fancy divided highway, but a two-lane road. The walk takes you past dumpsters and trash bins. You see, all the fancy big buildings on Broad and Greene have their back to Ellis, and no one spends money on the back of their building. There are many broken windows and boarded up doors on Ellis Street.
It is a lonely walk on Ellis Street, because no one walks there. Broad is crowded and Greene is peaceful, but Ellis is just lonely. No one wants to go there. You don't see many cars on Ellis Street, either.
But there is always an Ellis Street, isn't there? We put up large buildings on Broad for everyone to see. We put up big churches and homes on Greene, for everyone to see. But no one wants to see Eliis. No one wants to see the backs of those buildings. The boarded up entrances to the showplaces were originally for servants, and now they are for no one.
There is always an Ellis Street. In every church you visit, there are lovely services and smiling people, but there is an Ellis Street there are well. There are people in pain and families in turmoil, they just don't want us to know about it. In every club, there is someplace that people actually work. There is a kitchen ("off limits to members") in every fancy restaurant. There is always an Ellis Street where the trash goes and the workers catch a smoke break.
Amongst the barbed wire along Ellis Street, I wonder about the people with whom I work, the people among whom I minister, the people among whom I live. I know that every man has something behind what he shows. There is a dark place in most of us, an Ellis Street of the things that are true behind our images.
So, I think I will walk on Ellis Street now and again, if only to be reminded. As a man, as a Christian, my duty is not to just admire the clean images of the people I know. My duty is to help them cope with Ellis Street. And, perhaps, to have them help me cope with mine.
Broad Street is a divided, highly commercialized street. It has gone down significantly in recent years, but you can still see how it once was, with theaters and department stores. A walk along Broad is a pleasant walk, past restaurants and cafes and galleries and shops. There are large trees for shade and plenty of fancy and expensive garden work to admire.
Greene Street was (and still is) a professional street, filled with nice buildings, lawyer offices, beautiful churches. A walk along Greene Street is a wooded, shady, comfortable walk.
And between them is Ellis Street.
I walked along Ellis Street several times this week. A walk along Ellis Street is a walk without any shade, because there are no trees on Ellis Street. You cannot stop and look in at store windows, because there are no stores fronting on Ellis Street. It is not a fancy divided highway, but a two-lane road. The walk takes you past dumpsters and trash bins. You see, all the fancy big buildings on Broad and Greene have their back to Ellis, and no one spends money on the back of their building. There are many broken windows and boarded up doors on Ellis Street.
It is a lonely walk on Ellis Street, because no one walks there. Broad is crowded and Greene is peaceful, but Ellis is just lonely. No one wants to go there. You don't see many cars on Ellis Street, either.
But there is always an Ellis Street, isn't there? We put up large buildings on Broad for everyone to see. We put up big churches and homes on Greene, for everyone to see. But no one wants to see Eliis. No one wants to see the backs of those buildings. The boarded up entrances to the showplaces were originally for servants, and now they are for no one.
There is always an Ellis Street. In every church you visit, there are lovely services and smiling people, but there is an Ellis Street there are well. There are people in pain and families in turmoil, they just don't want us to know about it. In every club, there is someplace that people actually work. There is a kitchen ("off limits to members") in every fancy restaurant. There is always an Ellis Street where the trash goes and the workers catch a smoke break.
Amongst the barbed wire along Ellis Street, I wonder about the people with whom I work, the people among whom I minister, the people among whom I live. I know that every man has something behind what he shows. There is a dark place in most of us, an Ellis Street of the things that are true behind our images.
So, I think I will walk on Ellis Street now and again, if only to be reminded. As a man, as a Christian, my duty is not to just admire the clean images of the people I know. My duty is to help them cope with Ellis Street. And, perhaps, to have them help me cope with mine.