Good to see you! Thanks for opening this note. We hope it's been a good week for you. We think it has been for us:
- We're on track to finish at least two rooms to make way for friends who have no place to live . . . we're taking other steps to create room for another five by October
- The New Jim Crow Working Group is moving forward with its plans to develop a comprehensive approach to re-entry. To that end, it will host a breakfast brainstorming session on Saturday, August 9th. (If you want more info on that event, drop us a line.)
- Speaking of re-entry, we're working with Exodus on a joint venture that will help serve the needs of returning citizens. (Read about Exodus here.)
- The "Dorothy Day Dinner Committee" has begun meeting in earnest. If you'd like to help with any part of the October 17th event (from baking cookies to selling journal ads), drop us a line.
While all of that - and more - has been going on, our top priority remains raising the funds we need to keep Our House open. We really appreciate the support you've personally given to us. Without it, the 50+ friends who come to visit each day and the folks who have nowhere to sleep would have no place to go. That's why we ask that you approach your church or civic organization to help. Their contribution of $170 will cover the cost of one day, a day of open arms, a day of thanksgiving. A contribution of $1,190 ($170 per month for seven months) will sponsor a week, a week of radical hospitality (Click here to "Give Us This Day" project.). We'll be happy to come to talk with your church or group and provide any information you'd want to have in order to engage your faith community or club in living out our collective call. Thanks! |
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Bo, Ko and a cut above the rest
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Lindsey gets his ears lowered by Ko
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Our friend Bo is always thinking about some way of serving others. She and her family are regulars at Street Church, the heart of Ecclesia, and have been coming regularly to help with Hope's transformation.
Well, Bo has a friend named Ko, a hair cutter. The two of them got to talking last week and the next thing, you know, we got a call from Bo . . . and the next thing you know, Ko was at Our House where she met Lindsey. Twenty minutes later, Lindsey had a new haircut and Ko was convinced that she needed to come back.
We love it when folks learn about Our House, get to thinking about the challenges of being homeless and penniless, say "Hey - I've got a gift or talent I can share," and pick up the phone to say they're coming over.
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Cultivating life in the garden of good & evil
"I asked my doctor, 'How much time do I have?' and he told me, 'two years,'" my friend told me during a conversation earlier this
week. "And, I'm okay with that."
There's a certain freedom that comes with knowing that you're running out of time and not worrying about it, being "okay with that." One becomes free to live, free to more fully experience the here and now.
There were several times this week when I heard friends speak of freedom, of letting go, and finding comfort. They had stopped trying to control - to run - their lives, life situations, the behavior of others. At least in some aspects of their lives, they had decided to let it be. They embraced the motto "it is what it is" and took a step toward becoming that human person fully alive which brings such joy to God.
It reminded me of something else my friend said in reference to the af terlife - "A group of us were talking about Heaven. I said I believe in Heaven but I don't know if there is one" in the sense of a place we go after we die.
I get it.
Jesus said "The Kingdom of Heaven is within you," that we don't have to wait to die to experience it; we can experience it right now. The spiritual life is about discovering the truth of Jesus' statement. It is very much like an archeological dig - we painstakingly excavate our way through all the layers of dirt and junk, the preconceived notions, judgments, learned habits, expectations to expose what Merton called our "true selves," the one who was created in God's image.
Although Matthew packs in his own interpretation, I think that next week's gospel reading - The Parable of the Weeds, Matthew 13:24-30 and 36-43 - is about the spiritual life. We're "good seeds," born pure and innocent. During our formative years, we pick up a lot of baggage that's been offered to us by our culture, our family and a bunch of well-meaning people and institutions. After that, every day becomes the harvest day, the day in which we can let something go, the day when we can be transformed.
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Thank you for all you do to make this world a better place.
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