Billy Coffey
Billy Coffey

Mr. Chen

June 2, 2010  

image courtesy of photobucket.com

image courtesy of photobucket.com

His name is Mr. Chen.

I would never know of him if it weren’t for the article in GQ, a nine page account of despair and hopelessness that, when finished, convinced me of this one irrevocable fact—Mr. Chen is an overweight, black-toothed, chain-smoking, borderline alcoholic. And he is also my hero.

Most days you will find him on the South Tower of the Nanjing Yangtze River Bridge in Nanjing, China. A big bridge, that one. One hundred and thirty feet high and four miles long, with a four-lane highway on the top deck and two railroad tracks on the bottom. Five hundred thousand tons of cement and a million tons of steel.

He stands guard there, sometimes up to six hours a day, armed with a pair of binoculars and a moped. What Mr. Chen does isn’t his job. That’s reserved for the transportation company in the city proper. I suppose it couldn’t be considered a hobby either, given the seriousness of what he does there. Consider it his calling, I suppose. A holy one.

Because every day, every day, at least one of the citizens of Nanjing comes to the bridge for one purpose: to jump. And Mr. Chen is there to stop them.

It began some years ago when he read an article in the newspaper about the suicides on the bridge. Mr. Chen took up his post at the South Tower soon thereafter. Since then, he has pulled 174 people from taking the leap into the river or onto the concrete below.

There are others he cannot reach in time.

“…middle-aged man jumped off bridge where the body fell to the flower bed,” says one of his blog entries. “…died on the spot.” “Speaking in northern accent, man gave me a cigarette, said: Alas! Wives and children…” “Next to statue at southwest fort, man died jumping to concrete, one leg thrown from body, only blackened blood left behind. Meaningless life!”

Day after day this man stands guard, peering through the smog with his binoculars, looking for someone who lingers just a bit too long at the bridge’s edge. He will calmly speak with some, offer a cigarette to others, and some, he says, respond only when he hits them. Whatever it takes to get them off the bridge.

Mr. Chen scoffs at the idea that he’s a guardian angel. He’s no angel, he says. Yet for those who live in a city full of emptiness and empty of hope, that’s exactly what he is.

I read that article and wondered of that emptiness. I remembered the kind I felt once upon a time. The sort that now at a distance seems small but then certainly seemed jump-worthy.

And I wondered this, too:

The emptiness Mr. Chen fights is the same emptiness that lies not just in me, but in everyone.

The question isn’t whether we have holes.

The question is what we do with them.

Mr. Chen came from a broken home. An empty one. He says it’s that brokenness that keeps him on that bridge day after day. I wonder if he’d be there if his childhood had been full. Somehow I don’t think so.
That’s what I want to say to you today. Yes, you. Because I can’t take a peek into your life, can’t see what you see or feel what you feel, but I know you need the reminder. Your troubles and worries may lead you to believe you’re meant for the river or the concrete, but you’re not.

You’re meant to be a Mr. Chen.

You’re meant to heal your wounds by bandaging the wounds of others, to pull others from the brink while knowing you could well be there yourself.

Like him, you’re not perfect. That’s good. You’re not supposed to be.

Because I think only the broken can help the broken.

This post is part of the One Word at a Time blog carnival: Emptiness. For more stories about empiness, please visit my friend Bridget Chumbley at One Word at a Time.

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Comments

  • http://debholmes1.blogspot.com Deb

    I want to be a Mr Chen to my friends… my neighbours… my community (sans blackened teeth, extra weight and cigarettes)…what a champion.

  • http://faithfictionfriends.blogspot.com Glynn

    It’s a ministry he has — regular, ongoing, day in and day out, taking a risk in reaching out to people, saving the lost, just being there. It sounds familiar, like something we should learn from.

  • http://steeletheday.com Candy

    I’d like to think there’s a little Mr. Chen in all of us. Reality says there is not. But if we can help only one, it matters.

    This reminds me of David Wilkerson’s quote [sic] “God uses burdened broken-hearted weeping men and women…” He sure does. Over and over.

  • http://topsy.com/trackback?utm_source=pingback&utm_campaign=L2&url=http://www.billycoffey.com/2010/06/mr-chen/ Tweets that mention Mr.Chen, new post by — Topsy.com

    [...] This post was mentioned on Twitter by Billy Coffey, Glynn Young, She's So There.com, Candy Steele, Cassandra Frear and others. Cassandra Frear said: RT @billycoffey: New Post: Come meet Mr. Chen. You'll be glad you did. ~ http://bit.ly/cOZagU [...]

  • http://amysorrells.wordpress.com Amy Sorrells

    You shouldn’t make people cry so early in the morning.

    This may be one of my favorites of yours ever.

  • http://sixgreggs.blogspot.com Rebekah @ It Only Gets Better

    Thank our God for “Mr. Chens” in our lives. Reminds me of Andy Andrews’ book The Noticer; Mr. Chen is a noticer.

  • http://matteroffactsite.blogsite.com Sherri

    God bless Mr. Chen (and the Mr. Chen in all of us).
    Beautiful.

  • http://dutchhillnews.blogspot.com Annie McMahon

    Heroes come in all shapes and sizes. Beautifully written, as always.

    I love your posts. You sold me your book without ever talking about it. When is it available for purchase?

  • http://heatheragoodman.com Heather

    I agree–he’s not a guardian angel. He’s recovering what it means to be human by recovering humans.

    A beautiful man.

  • http://www.kellylangnersauer.com/blog Kelly Langner Sauer

    wow. I think I say that often here. incredible, incredible story.

  • http://www.koverb.blogspot.com Kathleen

    Brokenness and pain not going to waste because it creates empathy.

  • http://Www.walkingwithangels.wordpress.com Sara

    Normally I would say I wish I could be like Mr Chen but today I just pray for a Mr Chen in my life x

  • Anonymous

    This is a powerful post & very true. I had a horrific childhood with physical, emotional, & sexual abuse. I often despaired & wondered why these things happened. But God has brought me through to the other side & I have perhaps more compassion, empathy, & insight into similar wounded people than I would have with a “sally sunshine” life. Grace & peace, bro.

  • http://duane-scott.net/ Duane Scott

    “Only the broken can help the broken.”

    Powerful message.

    Appreciated this post, Billy. And now I’m curious what GQ magazine this story was in. I get them, and I haven’t read this one. Thanks!

  • http://www.tisagifttorceive.wordpress.com Anita Yoder

    This reminds me of my current favourite quote from Hemmingway: “The world breaks all of us, and afterward, some are strong at the broken places.”
    I love the picture of redemption in that.
    Thanks for the story.

  • Katdish

    Duane – May, 2010 issue.

  • http://blog.breakthroughalaska.com jasonS

    “The question isn’t whether we have holes.
    The question is what we do with them.”

    Ain’t that the truth. Jesus became broken to help the broken. Great post, Billy.

  • http://theperkinsblog.net Michael

    I’m right there with you regarding the broken helping the broken. I love how God uses those of us who have been broken and have nothing else but Him.

    Thx for sharing.

  • http://writingwithoutpaper.blogspot.com Maureen

    A wow of a post, Billy. You write poetry into all your prose and best of all leave us thinking. Mr. Chen’s a portrait of many if not most or all of us.

  • Katdish

    I read this article. You’ve captured Mr. Chen here beautifully–his brokenness and his need to help others who are broken.

    What haunts me about the article is that I went away after reading it with the dark feeling that Mr. Chen will meet the same fate as those on that bridge. He has lost his job, his family knows little of what he does on that bridge. I pray he finds redemption on that bridge before his own shadows catch up to him. I pray that all will.

  • http://www.asgoodadayasany.wordpress.com Marilyn Yocum

    Singer-songwriter Meg Hutchinson wrote “Gatekeeper” based on the story of a man who did this at (I think) the Golden Gate. Nice song. I found it on iTunes. Couldn’t find it on youtube, unfortunately.

    GREAT post, Billy!

  • http://www.joannesher.com Joanne Sher

    Oh wow. What a man – and what a message for us. Thanks, Billy!

  • http://aspiretoleadaquietlife.blogspot.com A Simple Country Girl

    Helping pull others from the very brink on which we have tottered isn’t exactly fitting for a resume, but fitting for a man worthy of recognition. I hope the GQ article and your piece help his influence and selflessness exceed the width of that bridge…

    Blessings.

  • http://www.nebraskagraceful.blogspot.com Michelle @ Graceful

    I’m late to comment, so everyone else has already said the good stuff, but I have to admit, when I read this, my first thought was, “Oh my God.” I know I’m not supposed to take God’s name in vain, but that’s what I thought, because I was just blown away by this story, and by Mr. Chen and by God working through Mr. Chen. It was so unexpected, this story. I didn’t know what to expect with that initial description of Mr. Chen. But I don’t think I could have ever imagined this story, someone doing that kind of rescuing day after day after day.

  • http://susan-moment.blogspot.com/ S. Etole

    You often leave me at a loss for words … often.

  • http://www.BridgetChumbley.com Bridget

    Hooray for the Mr. Chen’s of this world… and for what he represents in each of us. Terrific post, Billy. A great reminder of the good that still exists in people, even though we don’t see it often enough.

  • http://joyce-fromthissideofthepond.blogspot.com Joyce

    I read this first thing this morning but I really didn’t have any words. Still don’t.

    An amazing story and combined with your words it is really powerful.

  • http://www.ordinarilyextraordinary.com/ Amy Nabors

    What an amazing story. If only we all remembered to help others with the same sense of urgency.Thank you for sharing.

  • http://building-his-body.blogspot.com/ Anne Lang Bundy

    Oh that those in despair might always be so readily recognized! Oh that a compassionate course of action were always apparent. Oh that more of us felt the pain of others enough to care.

    Thank you, Billy, for sharing a story I shall not soon forget.

  • http://www.gettingdownwithjesus.blogspot.com Jennifer @ GDWJ

    What a fascinating story, Billy. Powerful story, even without your grade-A writing, but it’s jumpin’ off the page in your hands. Thanks, man.

  • http://prairiebren.blogspot.com ~Brenda

    “Only the broken can help the broken.”

    That, my friend, is my only hope when I think about whether my life has any significance or not. I’m still learning how to impart help, but it’s what gives me purpose.

    God bless Mr. Chen.

  • http://www.redletterbelievers.blogspot.com David @ Red Letter Believers.com

    I think I have to have my act together to help others. This story reminds me that God uses broken people.

  • http://lauraboggess.blogspot.com laura

    This reminds me that we never know what a person can do. Or why. God uses it all.

  • http://refreshmentrefuge.blogspot.com Gina Burgess

    I am incredibly sad for Mr. Chen’s emptiness. I am heartily glad that he has this kind of perseverance and this kind of hope that he chooses to spend his off hours keeping people from an eternal mistake. I shall pray for hope for him. I shall pray God fills that god-sized hole he must have in his heart.

  • http://www.thegypsymama.com Lisa-Jo @thegypsymama

    174 people.

    174 people.

    One hundred and seventy four people.

    That number has weight.

    How many have I saved today? This year? This decade.

    I have binoculars; the ones Christ gave me. I need to use them more often.

  • http://memoriaarts.com/2010/06/07/small-and-hidden/ Small and hidden… | Memoria Arts

    [...] I think of Mr.Chen. [...]

  • http://jessicanelson7590.blogspot.com Jessica

    This is so beautifully written.
    What an amazingly wonderful person that guy is.

  • http://caryjo-roadrunner.blogspot.com Joanne Norton

    So often what you said is absolutely true… the broken can help the broken.

    What a wonderful story…

  • http://memoriaarts.com/?p=697 Small and hidden… | Memoria.Arts

    [...] I think of Mr.Chen. [...]