It's good to see you and it's good to be seen. The temperature hit 70 degrees here in the Burgh as we sat down to pen this note. St. Ruth was around the corner at First United Methodist Church with a band of others busy bagging up turkeys and all the fixing that will be handed out this morning to the more than 1,100 needy families who've signed up for the annual food distribution. The intrepid members of Loaves & Fishes have spent the last twelve months raising money and preparing for this event. If you've been a part of it - Thank you! Last week, we introduced you to Phil, the newest resident-member of the Hope Community. This week, we'd like you to meet Paul Kolb who officially joined us back in August. Paul has a variety of skills from welding to wiring to quietly listening to others. He even appreciates Steve's sense of humor! What's more, Paul is the writer of self-reflections . Here's one he offered to share:
There is such a thing as being more stubborn than you are sensible or smart. In this situation you become your own worst enemy and a threat to your own accomplishment of any aim i.e. success. Sometimes in order to feed our families, we have to bite our tongues and swallow our pride. One of my shortcomings is trying to teach those who don't want to be taught and heal those who enjoy
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Paul Kolb finds light in dark places
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being sick. I always want better for people. However, some get offended because, in their eyes, they're content; from where they sit, the y are doing their best and have "plateaued."
Point well taken. . . Though you may have the best intentions, most can't see you vision without your eyes. Ultimately, we must all keep in mind that without valuing ourselves, drawing valuable things into our lives is an uphill battle. My walk is a living testimony that light can be found in dark places. You can get a much clearer picture of yourself when you stop looking at yourself through shattered glass. 0 0 0 0 0 In case you're wondering about what goes on around here on Thanksgiving Day - wonder no more. About a dozen of us, including two daughters and a granddaughter, will gather around Hope's table during the noon hour, feast on the usual Thanksgiving gare [well, Tofurky too!). Then at 5:00 p.m. our friends from the Cornwall Presbyterian Church will serve a lasagna dinner to about 50 of our friends at Our House who will have been "turkeyed out" by then. We'll extend the center's hours of operation as well because no other church or institution will be open. 0 0 0 0 0 Speaking of Thanksgiving . . . Our friend Leslie Offut-White came by last week with another shipment of supplies collected by the good folks of Poughkeepsie's First Congregational United Church of Christ. We're very thankful to them for their steadfast support. 0 0 0 0 0 And . . . speaking again of Thanksgiving - Ecclesia is a big part of tomorrow evening's Interfaith Thanksgiving Service here in Newburgh and sponsored by the Greater Newburgh Interfaith Council. The 7:00 p.m. event at Union Presbyterian Church, 44 Old Balmville Road, will feature a solo by our musicologist Will Pierce, a "testimony" by a friend whose life has been touched by his experience of Our House, and a talk by Steve about feeding the wolf. Proceeds from the offering with be used to help keep Our House open. You can help too by clicking here. |
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A text for the "now times"
"Oh . . . when are they going to come?" moaned Eddie as he gingerly touched his swollen eye. We were in Exam Room 10 at Westchester Medical Center last Monday afternoon waiting for what turned out to be a team of eye surgeons to perform two procedures that would start him on the road to recovery. Eddie's left eye was swollen shut. A web of dried blood covered his cheek. A violent crime drama was on TV and an alarm on one of the monitors sounded with an unrelenting "beep . . . beep . . . beep."
"Oh . . . when are they going to come?" Eddie m oaned again.
"My thoughts exactly!" I whispered to myself.
Eddie's latest saga began about midnight Sunday. Bill was outside smoking a cigarette when Eddie and Cliff came out of another building ostensibly heading for the store. The three men met on the sidewalk across the street from Hope to shoot the breeze and, maybe catch up on the latest drama playing out in Eddie's life. A fourth man - Frank - came along carrying a big stick. He and Eddie exchanged unpleasantries and - bam! - Eddie got the short end of the stick and ended up in the emergency room of St. Luke's-Cornwall Hospital with battered legs and a shattered eye socket. He told staff that he'd fallen down some stairs. After a couple of MRIs and X-Rays, he was shipped to Westchester where he told the same story.
"I didn't wanna cause anybody any problems," he explained. That might be because he threw the first punch or because he's on parole or because that's the way it is in a violent neighborhood in a violent city in a violent country in an increasingly violent world.
It all fits somehow with the text for this coming Sunday - Mark 13:24-37 - the first Sunday in Advent. The text is about the so-called end times and meant to be a message of hope in a world gone mad. If you ask me, it is a text for the "now times," a time when we are called to stand firm in our faith, to resist the evil and pain all around us, to model a different way of being in this world, a way of love and of healing and of wholeness.
May you and I do our parts to live into that truth.
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