Keep Our House Open!
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We're hard at work, planning for our first-ever Dorothy Day Dinner, a time of great food, conversation, laughter, thanksgiving and music scheduled for 6 pm, October 17th. It's an event you won't want to miss. And, it will be here before you know it.
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Spread the Word
Help us spread the word about our work in the Burgh. In addition to telling your family and friends about us over lunch or dinner, you can also
and
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On the Agenda
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Every Day
4:00 p.m. - 8:00 p.m.
Our House is open
85 Grand Street
M & W at Noon and
Thursdays at 6:00 p.m.
Meditation
85 Grand Street
Sundays
1:30 p.m.
Weekly worship
85 Grand Street
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Wow! August is already here. The summer seems to be rushing by a bit too fast.
It's often hard to be in the moment, isn't it? Yet that's what we're called to do; we're called to be in the moment, to be still and to know that God is God . . . We hope you get a chance to practice that presence today.
It has been a wonderfully busy week here at Hope. Genie Abrams came to the door one evening bearing gifts of sugar and toilet paper for Our House. Others of you also stepped up to the plate with needed "stuff" as well as the money we need to keep Our House open.
One of the suggestions we received was that we post a wish list of supplies we can use. The list would come in handy when organizing an "Our House Stuff" drive with your church, school, or scout troop. Here's the list: sugar, creamer, decaf coffee and tea, paper hot beverage cups, toilet paper, paper towels, bleach, white socks, deodorant, soap, body lotion, tooth paste, razors, wash cloths. Sample sizes are perfect and so are those little soaps, shampoos and lotions you get when you stay at a hotel or motel . . .
We are reminded that it's important that all that we do be done in community. It is through community, with each one of us doing a little, that great things can happen.
Speaking of great things, below you can read a note about one less person living in a shelter, an invitation to explore Habitat's work, and Steve's reflection on a North Atlantic storm and other such stuff.
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From the streets to stability . . .
Lindsey moved in last week. It took a while, but his room was finally ready, completely refurbished and conveniently located on the first floor of Hope. H e set himself up with one of the captain's beds donated to us last winter by the Marine Corp and a dresser, night stand, lamp and other accoutrements we had on hand . . . bought some curtains and made himself at home.
We'll all celebrate on Tuesday at our weekly Hope Community Dinner . . . and run through the punch list of items left to finish off the next room.
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Down memory lane . . .
 See those three houses in the photo at right? They're on the corner of East Parmenter and Federal streets here in the Burgh. The first time we visited that site, it was graced with a building in a state of collapse. When we stepped inside, we met a homeless man sitting in the corner of a roofless room. We helped him find more suitable lodging.
But that was then; this is now . . . the three houses you see were built by Habitat for Humanity which bit by bit, house by house, has transformed the block-long street into a very beautiful neighborhood. Click here to learn more about what's up at Habitat. |
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Like a ship on the ocean . . .
One wicked March in the once upon a time, I found myself on the 210-foot Coast Guard Cutter Vigorous in an awful storm off the Grand Banks of Newfoundland in search of survivors from a ship that had gone down the night before.
 All the hatches and ports were sealed against the monstrous waves that crashed on deck. One of my jobs was to be the bow lookout. That meant that when my turn came, I'd quickly open a hatch, clip my safety harness to a cable running to the bow, step outside, close the hatch and stand there in a wetsuit and life jacket waiting, feeling the rhythm of sea and ship until there was a lull just long enough to allow me to run to the fo'c'sle and duck behind the gunnel before the next big wave swept over the deck. As the ship climbed from a trough, I'd cling to my lifeline and the gunnel as I rose to my feet to search the sea for signs of the missing crew or one of the other ships known to be in the area.
I don't remember being frightened even when the waves were crashing all around me. And, I don't remember that anyone else was frightened either. We were just out there doing what we were sent out to do.
That's how the disciples came to be out on the Sea of Galilee on a dark and stormy night - Jesus had sent them on ahead. In fact, as next Sunday's gospel reading - Matthew 14:22-33 - tells it, he "made" the disciples go on without him. And, when they did, they found their boat battered by waves and the wind sending them off course. It wasn't until Jesus showed up that everything was okay.
We've got a leg up on the disciples don't we? I mean, when we sign on to be Jesus' disciples, he also compels us to go, to do the work of making God's Dream a reality. The difference is that, when we do, we know that he's already with us in the boat.
Smooth sailing.
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Thank you for all you do to make this world a better place.
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