The Bird Man

Lansing has its share of interesting figures around town. Some of them are more notable than others. ONe of the more recognizable people is the singing Elvis. He is a man who walks around singing Elvis songs with his Walkman headphones on. He looks like an Elvis impersonator, complete with chops sideburns and the big, kingish sunglasses. If you are in a place like Meijer, you can hear him a row or two over. He seems like a normal guy, other than the fact that he sings Elvis songs all the time. I checked out behind him once at the store. When the clerk gave him his change, he said, "thank you, thank you very much." No lie.

Another notable was the Bird Man. He was known by all who live in the little town south of where I live. If you were to drive by the Quality Dairy, there was a good chance you would see him sitting on the sidewalk beside his three wheel bike drinking coffee and feeding the birds. Those who worked at the QD said he was a friendly man. I never really knew him, only of him. Any time I saw him, I had the urge to stop and buy him a coffee or dinner. I never really acted out on these urges. I won't have the chance now.

The bird man's real name was Gilbert Kolonich. At one point in his life, he owned a gas station and a party store with his wife. He was artistic and musical. The article in the paper quotes his wife as saying "he was successful at anything he tried." He was the father of two boys. But then, a disease took him from them.

For the last 20 years, Mr. Kolonich has been battling paranoid schizophrenia. It cause him to leave his wife and family and become a loner, and eventually, a known interesting figure in a small community. Its really a sad story. This past week, he suffered a heart attack and died alone in his apartment.

To me, the bird man looked friendly and warm, like the ghost of Christmas Present in A Muppet's Christmas Carol. From the distance that I looked, he seemed like someone who could carry on an interesting conversation about anything. Yet, I doubt many people ever stopped to talk to him or learn about his life.

How often do we as humans turn our heads or avert our eyes from those who are on the fringe? Why are we so afraid? It wouldn't have cost me much to buy a stranger a cup of coffee and to learn a little about his life. How much ministry could I have done for him? How much ministry would he have done for me? But I didn't, the same as most of the other people who knew of the bird man, but did not know him.

As I sit here and think, my mind quickly shifts to the multiple accounts in the Gospels where Jesus encounters interesting figures and doesn't change his course to avoid them. Rather, he stops and talks with them; he heals them; he shows them love. He found joy in them. His actions, coupled with the death of this random man that I did not know challenges me to be more aware and loving of those around me, even if it means that I am going to be uncomfortable.

I am sure that you have your own singing Elvis or bird man in your community. What are you going to do? May the love of our Savior challenge you to do something more than averting your attention to something else, acting like you don't see, when really you do.