My Yoke is easy and my burden is light ...
or in current English
"Are you tired? Worn out? Burned out on religion? Come to me. Get away with me and you'll recover your life. I'll show you how to take a real rest. Walk with me and work with me—watch how I do it. Learn the unforced rhythms of grace. I won't lay anything heavy or ill-fitting on you. Keep company with me and you'll learn to live freely and lightly."
Matthew 11:28-30 - The Message (MSG)
Tonight, I feel quiet and small. I am open and raw emotionally. Not bad--just very raw as if every feeling is amplified. Tonight, as I cooked and cleaned and made myself available to our guests and volunteers, I also pondered the scripture above. Your way, this way of Love is easy, Jesus? Really? Why does it feel so hard at imes, like I am swimming upstream?
In some ways, it was easier to not know the "other." Easier to not know the name or story of how our guests came to be here with us. Easier to make up a story about how their lack of personal responsibility had landed them in the shelter.It was easier to look away before I knew their name.
There are a few here who are so lost in addiction that they can barely function. However, they are the minority. There are a few people with mental health challenges who have fallen through the cracks of our society. Another very small percentage are folks who are living under the radar of the usual structure of our civilization.
Over and over I have heard first night volunteers marvel that our guests do not look like they imagined homeless people to look, be or act like. Minds blown. Stereotypes blown. Hearts opened. Our guests look like us; our friends, our relatives, our neighbors because that is who they are and we can see it because we are up close and persona. Playing cards, talking sports, politics, imagining winning the lottery.
Without realizing it, I had gotten pretty burned out on religion and tired almost to death of talking about love. Please do not talk to me about how loving God is unless you are willing to demonstrate that love in action and are doing something to make its presence real and felt in the world today.
I have watched as the members of our congregation have opened their hearts and allowed Love to remove their fears, apprehensions and barriers against caring. I have witnessed our church being fully present with our guests and the blurring of the lines between us and them until it is simply we. I have witnessed my own wonder at the love shared.
During the course of this Shelter Hosting Week, I have been transformed in ways I do not yet understand. I believe this spiritual community that I am privileged to serve has also been changed at depth.
This evening 101 people are sleeping on the floor in Fellowship Hall as our honored guests. Each one has a history and hopes and dreams.
William is a clean cut, young man of 20 whose parents are deceased. William is not without permanent housing becase he drinks or uses drugs. he simply does not have enough money to live on. He is a landscaper but didn't work enough weeks during last season to qualify for unemployment and he has not found winter work so he has been part of the shelter. I have watched all week as he and a few others, look out for Roy who has started to exhibit symptoms of Alzheimer's disease. William makes sure Roy get's through the food line and helps carry Roy's tray. In the morning, I watch him help Roy locate his belongings and jacket. Love expressed and God made visible.
I am also rethinking the whole idea of homeless. Is a person who is sleeping in a shelter in our church, homeless? I think not.
The journey continues ...
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