He Kindly Stopped For Me

Two years ago on the first Sunday in April, I was volunteering with the Friends Meeting of Washington at the Church of the Pilgrims when Michael Stoops was taken from his office there to the emergency room.

FMW volunteers were accustomed to seeing Michael at work during our monthly Sunday Open Table shifts at the church. I later learned that he often spent the night in his National Coalition for the Homeless basement office without going home.

Michael enjoyed telling me about NCH’s latest efforts to combat homelessness through lobbying and public outreach. I would pass on to him an extra sandwich or a cup of soup left over from our meal service. He would decline our invitation to join a group lunch at a nearby restaurant after we finished our volunteer duties, because from his standpoint, there was much more to be accomplished in the office.

I was moved to see the ovations he received at the annual winter solstice recognition for the homeless people who died on the streets. I was also touched to observe the many participants — perhaps with “the least among us,” in terms of worldly possessions — who attended Michael’s memorial. How that would have pleased him.

Emily Dickinson’s words are apropos for Michael: “Because I could not stop for Death/He kindly stopped for me/The Carriage held but just Ourselves/And Immortality.”

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