Connecting With Homelessness

The last few weeks I have been spending some time with a homeless guy in downtown Chicago. We grab lunch and sometimes I buy him a place to stay for the night. Presently I am working to get him into the Men's Shelter I serve at. Assisting anyone who shares such different paradigms is always a challenge. Pray that God gives me the insight to serve in the manner he sees fitting.

J

Ricky

Today as I was going into Panda Express there was a man holding the door open for everyone and asking if he could get something to eat. I invited him in and got him some food. I convinced him to sit with me and eat. It was a good time of getting to know each other. He told me about Mississippi (where he was from), what he was doing here, and how he was getting by. It was a good story and his accent made it better. We are having lunch again next Tuesday. Hopefully it will be as enjoyable.

Something to think about: I was just going to Panda to get my lunch to go. There was a teleconference I wanted to listen to that might help my new business. It was free so I cost me nothing but I decided to miss it to eat with Ricky. This reminded me of something I have thought a lot about after reading Robert Lupton's book "Theirs is the Kingdom". He talked about God and efficiency. He maybe he should stop and talk to someone in need even he will be late for his big donor meeting. Maybe God isn't about efficiency and doesn't want us to always be "responsible" in the way we classically think. Something to think about.

Service

I feel that at times service needs to hurt. We need to be uncomfortable in doing it and it should suck but we strive on.

I've been spending time with someone who I meet at a homeless shelter who is there until he can get a job that will allow him to make enough money to live on his own. He has a tough time with finding great work because he spent most of his life in jail. Now that he has been out for a few years he has yet find steady work even though he gives more of an effort at it then I ever have.

The things about all this is that it isn't service really anymore. We go driving once a week to get him a better at driving to go and get a drivers license in a few weeks and last week we hang out with some people on Sunday. We hung out though because I wanted to just hangout and thought he could show us some of the stuff that the uptown area has in the realm of service and such. He served me.

Actually he teaches me things constantly. I know I teach him things and I'm all in favor of this but its really not this service is horrible thing I bought into. I feel bad at times because we have such a good time. He isn't a charity case and I don't think he ever was. He's my friend.

Now I just need to figure out what this all means when those you are serving are serving you just as much and you are having a good time.

beautiful tears

Hannah called me crying because she sat today with a homeless guy and listened to his story. Later tonight she is going to a very rich mentor of heres for dinner and she is struggling with the opulence, disparity and distance between the two situations.

Few people get choked up this way and I feel for her because I have an idea of how she feels. I know she is torn up. I promised to feed him tonight. I know it isn't enough. We have talked about how we can't invite people back because tomo would never go for it.

Last night we a pact to move to a place we could really help the community and have a group of roommates who would welcome those less off.

Serving with the NEW Monastics

4th Thursday meant it was time for the homeless shelter. This is always a blessed time in my week as I get to see more of the guys who show up at Willow Chicago. It has been great to take Mitch driving so he can get a license. It seems that it will open him up to a whole new set of jobs that hopefully can get him a steady income.

So the shelter was great but the best part was that we to spend more time speaking with Todd and his wife (who's name I am really bad at remembering). Todd and his wife used to belong in a community in Knoxville that had a lot of dinners and served a lot. Sounded great to Hannah and I.

They talked alot about how things begin to get flawed when you institutionalize Christianity. They weren't trying to say that it was evil or that people needed to do it differently. They just conveyed that real Christian community meant spend time with people and serving. Hannah and I were excited and felt they had alot to teach us.

We will be spending some time with them in the next few weeks and getting to know them more. I also think they will like Dan and Erin who are also two friends of ours.