Walk Out

One of the main reasons I went to Denver was to participate in a poverty simulation called Walk Out. On Saturday morning we gathered and were given our new identities for the walk.  Here was mine:

Other identities included people with felonies, refugees, and parents with small children.  My brother was a single dad.

We were given a garbage bag which held our "belongings" and then we headed a couple of blocks down the road to the Denver Rescue Mission.  We signed up for a bed and then were given a tour of the mission and how it works.  They serve a tremendous amount of people including providing around 2,000 meals a day.  Some of us were not allowed to stay at the mission because we were women or because we had small children, so our group had to look for other accommodations.  Our next stop was Champas House, which takes in women and children in a rigorous program.

From there we made stops at a simulated food bank and government assistance agency, as well as McDonalds, where we applied for a job.  Each step along the way we were handed a mound of paperwork to read and complete, which was a challenge in and of itself.  As I was filling out the application for McDonalds I was struck by how much of it I wouldn't be able to complete if I were a homeless person.  Address, contact information, and references would have all been very challenging.

Our final stop was at the offices of Cross Purpose.  My brother and sister-in-law work for this organization.  It works with people by walking with them as they work their way out of poverty.  Cross Purpose provides support through financial assistance, training, and mentorship.  One of the ideas that they share regularly is about relationship.  People in poverty are not just poor financially, but are often poor spiritually, emotionally and relationally.  A Cross Purpose mantra is "There is no significant change without significant relationship."

I was really struck by what a struggle it was to deal with all the problems we faced during the Walk Out.  To me, it was like being in a deep pit and trying to climb out, but so many things just keep pulling you back down.  Cross Purpose provides the support for people to keep climbing upward in their efforts to make a better life for themselves and their families.  It was great to get to see up close what this ministry is all about.

It always leaves me wondering, "What am I supposed to do with what I've learned?"

A Dose of Diversity

This weekend I went to a multicultural church with my brother and sister-in-law in Denver.  This is a church made up of immigrants and refugees and illegal aliens, as well as lawyers and teachers and people from all kinds of other backgrounds and educational levels.  Diverse is the perfect word to describe it.

It was a pleasure to worship in such a setting.  I was so blessed by the beauty of this body of believers.  Being connected to this group of believers through my brother and sister-in-law has definitely broadened my perspective and made me long for the richness that I observed in this congregation.

During the service in Denver there was a time for testimonies.  Emotions after the election on Tuesday were running high.  A teacher from a school with a majority Latino population described the fear and uncertainty about the future her students were feeling.  An illegal immigrant spoke about God being in control.  I was most moved by a woman whose job was to work with refugees being resettled in Denver.  She knew the stories of these refugees and their struggles, and her heart broke with the idea that things might get even harder for her friends.  She felt that the greater white evangelical church was letting her down, and she was just about done with that church as a whole.  But then her pastor showed up to see how she was doing and to bring comfort and encouragement.  She said she was blessed to be a part of a church family who understood and cared about her and her most vulnerable clients and friends.

I came home wondering if anyone in Dunlap had expressed concern for any of the foreigners in our midst. Did anyone go to their homes to offer words of comfort and encouragement?

The day after I returned, a funny thing happened.  I randomly came in contact with a family I know in our community.  I hadn't seen them in months.  The father of this family is an illegal immigrant.  Over the course of our conversation I finally said, "So tell me, how are you feeling in relation to the election?  Are you doing  ok?  What are you thinking?"

This man looked at me and said, "I know that God is in charge no matter who the president is.  I came here and have made a life and a family, and God has blessed me.  And if I have to leave at some point, I know that God will be with me.  So I'm ok. I'm ok."

I was so blessed by his reply, and I never would have been bold enough to ask him about this if not for the experience I had just had in Denver.

I'm thankful, so thankful, for this experience.

Post Election Thoughts

Many of us find ourselves with strong emotions, whether happy or sad, based on the outcome of the election Tuesday.  Throughout this election season, it has been hard for all of us on either side to reconcile our minds with people who think so differently about important issues.  Somehow I keep coming back to this passage from Madeleine L'Engle.  I hope it gives us some ideas about the way forward.

"I once had an acquaintance who was a far more regular church goer than I, rose early to go to Holy Communion each morning before he went to work, and yet hated all [Asians].  Whenever an [Asian] priest celebrated communion, he refused to receive the bread and wine.

"I knelt behind him in a small chapel on a morning when a Japanese priest, one of my friends, was the celebrant, and I knew that this man would not touch the Body and Blood because it was held by yellow hands.  And I was outraged.

"I am not in love and charity with this man, I thought, and therefore, according to the rubrics, I should not go up to the altar.  And yet I knew that my only hope of love and charity was to go forward and receive the elements.

"He did not know that he, himself, was acting wholly without love and charity.  Something within him obviously justified this abominable reaction, so that the next Eucharist, if it was presided over by somebody he recognized as priest, as he was unable to recognize the Japanese priest, he would hold out his hands and receive in love and humility.

"He does not know what he is doing.  He does not know.

"Surely within me there is an equal blindness, something that I do not recognize in myself, that I justify without even realizing it.

" All right, brother.  Let us be forgiven together, then.  I will hold out my hands for both of us today, and do you for me tomorrow morning when I will be asleep while you trudge through the dirty streets to church.  It is all right for me to be outraged by what you are doing here in the presence of God, as long as it does not set me apart from you."

Whether you voted Republican or Democratic, whether you are enjoying the thrill of victory or experiencing the agony of defeat, it is all right for you to be outraged by the blindness of the opposing side, as long as it does not set you apart from them.  May we learn from each other and go forward in love and charity.