"If Ever There Was a Country"

As I reflect over my last two and a half years, from Chicago to LA to Manila, I think about how far I have come, and yet how far I have left to go. This leg of my journey has brought me at times great sorrow and at others great joy, as well as many new friends, many of whom have become like family. Though not a perfect representation, and written over fifty years ago (though in a time not too different from our world today), this poem by Thomas Merton gives me hope to continue down the road less traveled, not necessarily as a monk in a countryside monastery, but as a sojourner in a foreign land...seeking a country where all men and women give their lives to the "one activity which is the beatitude of heaven."

Intersection Cafe

After being called out a few times now for not writing a blog here since last September, I figured it'd be worth an update at least.

The newest initiative I'm working on as it relates to exchanging hope in our community is something my church (Holy Trinity Church) has been hosting now for the last few weeks that we're calling Intersection Cafe.  Intersection Cafe's goal is for the church community, neighborhood community, and guests of the Franciscan House nearby to interact/intersect for food, music, art, and relationship.

...the hour I was born 25 years ago...

On this,
the hour I was born 25 years ago,
my heart breaks for the people on the streets.
My friends who spend their days at the library,
the park, the hospitals, ‘Sisters’ and other soup kitchens across Chicago,
and street corners where they weave in and our of the
cars so they can make some money for some food or a cigarette.

Justice in Community - Embodiment of Lent and Easter

“I used to say ’My Savior,’ but now I say ‘Our Savior!’”

These simple words were spoken by one of the guests at the shelter tonight name Jesus who, through a number of phone calls he made at the desk I sit at as well as a conversation I had at him, I found out had just accepted Christ and was baptized over Easter! These words were a huge confirmation to me tonight to write this devotional response to close out the Lenten Devotionals – a fulfillment if you will – much like Jesus’ resurrection. It is a message I need for myself and I feel the church needs as a whole.

Lent Devotional #3: Taize

Last Friday night I went to a Taize church service, a type of service focused around prayer and repetitious song. It was beautiful. The sanctuary was beautiful and the people were beautiful. There were two parts during the service that I felt tied together perfectly in relation to Lent. The first part included everyone lighting a candle we had picked up upon entering, and after singing a song with the candle in our hands, putting them in clay pots of sand in the middle of the sanctuary to represent the light of Christ. Later in the service there was a time when the congregants were invited to come up to a wooden cross located a little ways off of all the lit candles, and as the bulletin said "lay your head on the cross to lift up your burdens and the burdens of suffering people all around the world." In expectation of the light of Christ, and yet in view of the cross, I realized something. I have always been told that we must see our lives through the lens of Christ. I realized, as I bowed at the cross facing the lights, that even though we are on this side of Jesus' death and resurrection, as faithful followers of Jesus Christ, we are called for a time to endure suffering as Jesus did in patient expectation of His glorious return. And yet, even in waiting for His return, we have already experienced His triumphant victory over death and His resurrection to His rightful throne next to His Father in Heaven.

Lent Devotional #2: Crossing Boundaries

Crossing Boundaries...

How often do we in the church go out of our way or cross over societal boundaries to minister to "others"? I have been learning recently that Jesus did it all the time!

One of the experiences I won't forget was showering during my stay at the shelter. Being a community shower with about 7 open shower stalls, and no hooks to put your clothes on when showering, I had to put all my clean clothes on the floor atop my just worn shirt in order to keep the clean ones from getting dirty. But in this process my clean, plain white t-shirt dropped on the ground, getting a wet dirt stain from the dirty floor. But being my only clean shirt left, that is what I had to put on after the shower; an experience not dissimilar to camping, but in this context, definitely a new boundary I had crossed.

Lent Devotional #1.5: Death and Resurrection

As I was thinking about my first Lenten Devotional, I sensed a need to take the verse from 2 Corinthians 8:9 one step further, completing this amazing story of Jesus’ life, death, and resurrection. Whereas the last devotional focused more on Jesus’ life, here I will try and draw upon His death and resurrection.

The last day of my homeless experience was a Sunday morning, and though like the other mornings I was kicked out at 6:30am, this particular morning I did not leave alone. I had invited one of the guests, a 53 year old African man from Nigeria to come out with me to my apartment in the suburbs and have a place to catch up on some sleep, take a shower, do his laundry, and eat a home cooked meal (though nothing like what my mom can make).

Lent Devotional #1: The Great Reversal

"For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sakes he became poor, so that you through his poverty might become rich."
- 2 Corinthians 8:9

Prior to laying on the cot the first night, I never understood the full significance of God sending His son Jesus into this world in the form of a man, dwelling among us as a lower-class citizen. You see, God, in all his glory left his throne room in Heaven to come live with us! He had it all - even the richest man in the world cannot come close to having a fraction of the riches God possesses in Heaven - and yet he became poor. He took up residence in a tiny town called Nazareth to experience the mess man had gotten himself into.

Laying in my bed, surrounded by 25 to 75 year old men, men who did not have a home and had to stay in temporary shelters to get out of the cold, I realized why Jesus did what He did.

a friend in jail

So I had my first friend go to jail recently, and I didn't even know it. I wish I had known when it happended so I could have gone to visit him.

The friend I am talking about is a guy named Smokie who lives at the shelter, and sleeps in a bed near Willie and John Romani. I haven't been to the shelter in the last two weeks because of Christmas and New Years, so I haven't been in the loop as much at the shelter. But last night when I was working, everyone was excited to see Smokie because he hadn't been there for a while. After telling him I had been gone for two weeks too and asking where he had been, he told me he had been a "bad boy" (this is a 45 year old man) compared to my time with my family. Eventually he conceded and told another volunteer and I that he had been caught with a bag of weed and was put in prison for two weeks.

But before you judge him for getting caught with a bag of weed, (I've had my fair share of college friends who have done plenty of weed) you must realize he is my friend and is not much different from me and you. Not only has this experience at the shelter given me a new perspective of the homeless, but now is has begun to give me a new understanding of prisoners. And really, these are the people Jesus hung out with too.

"Beautiful Eyes"

November 14, 2007

I would have expected a scar at least, if not a mark so bad that he could not see out of one eye; this of the always first through the door MC 24.

MC 24 is one of the homeless guests at the Franciscan House of Mary and Joseph, a homeless shelter on the near west side of Chicago. He is a moderately heavy set man, African American, and always wearing sunglasses. His presence demands utmost respect, especially from the volunteer working the morning shift when at 5:00am every morning he notions to us to open the garage so he can ride off on his bike with a flashing light on the front. The rumor among the volunteers and staff is that he was at one time a gang leader in Chicago, and because of that no one dares mess with him. While the standard procedure is to let the regulars in first (40 guys who have been at the shelter for more than 6 months and are able to be trusted), for some reason they (and the shelter staff) know to let MC 24 (24 for the bed # he sleeps in every night) in first. He goes straight in without getting food, does a few things in the bathroom, and then sits on the edge of his bed with his sunglasses still on until the lights go off. And if the lights are not off by 9:30pm like is procedure, he will be the first to let us know, allowing him to roll over, take off his sunglasses and go to sleep.

A new authority

Alright, so in reality, I realize more and more each day that God is the utmost Authority in the city of Chicago - just like in every other place in the world. But over the last two days I too have gained a new authority in the neighborhood that I didn't have before, both as a coach and as a volunteer.

a Journalist, a Miracle, and a Mission

Thursday, September 13, 2007

I went back to the shelter tonight. But this time not as a full-time volunteer at the shelter and as an official volunteer coach of Chicago Hope's cross country team. Last Sunday was my last day of my three week committment to volunteering at the shelter full-time (taking night and morning shifts), but though I am not working any shifts, I am still going in to help with opening from 7:30pm-9:30pm every now and then. I am also helping volunteer with the cross country team at Hope Academy a couple times a week - including seeing their meet on the south side of Chicago on Tuesday night.

Tonight was a rather unsettling night at the shelter for many reasons.

Football and the Homeless

Friday, August 24, 2007

I met Moses today. After reading and putting Exodus 2:23-25 (where God hears the crys of the Israelites in bondage) in an e-mail today about the practical needs of the shelter, God showed up, conveying that He has also heard the cry of those in bondage in the city of Chicago.

Let me back up a second. I woke up this morning/afternoon at 1:00pm. This is coming after volunteering at both the soup kitchen and shelter from 4:30pm-3:00am the last towo nights. Upon waking up and eating breakfast I read an article in the Chicago Tribune about homelessness. Then after reading my Bible and taking a short nap, I heading out to the shelter around 4:30pm on my bike (they did not need help in the soup kitchen tonight). My goal was to make contact with some local churches around the shelter (Harrison and Sacramento) to see if they'd be willing to start a prayer meeting once a week for the neighborhood. Though locating four churches thanks to Cedric (one of the shelter guests) and Father Larry, it was in a much greater way that God showed up! I will relate this experience through a prayer to God Almighty - the orchestrator and friend of sinners and the oppressed.