LOTS OF PEOPLE OVER THIRTY LEAD PRODUCTIVE, USEFUL LIVES.
Yeah, no kidding.
It's on a coffee cup, one that kept cropping up at odd moments. Or maybe I always noticed it because it seemed like it was yelling at me.
It resides in it's place above the desk of our kitchen manager. Err, the House of Charity's kitchen manager. I gotta stop saying that, since I'm no longer employed there.
May 31st was my last day, and I'm happy to report that it was my last day, not the sleeping program's. 104 men age eighteen and above still reside in the House of Charity each evening. For now. The future, for now, seems uncertain.
May 31st was the day a guy with a few a years on me and a tear-drop tattoo saw fit to give me a hug. And I let him--he then returned to raving about the new Transformers movie coming out.
June 1st was a day like any other, because whether I'm there or not, there are people at the House of Charity, as there are people everywhere.
People with problems. Just like people everywhere.
Just ask, folks will let you in on them. Sometimes you don't even have to ask, the information is volunteered. Like with folks everywhere.
I've spent the better part of a year working with the homeless in Spokane, and I'm still trying to figure it out. What's so different, that is. Well, there are differences. I (someone with a place to go tonight), have got that bit covered. I don't have to worry about it. It's also a safe bet that I'm starting to go a bit paranoid if I'm worried about someone taking my stuff, or them taking a knife out and waving it at me.
It's amazing that folks whom you would be hard-pressed to call paranoid if they were worrying about these things (since they happen) are able to dig themselves out of such holes. It's that paradox that I've been thinking about since I got to the House of Charity--so, you want to take those that have nothing, and yell at them to get a job, without really mentioning how, but you're willing to take someone who has so much (probably anyone reading this, considering you're reading it on a computer), and applaude us for it.
But I shouldn't be so bold, since we've all got problems. Thankfully though, when someone's driving down the street, they usually don't throw things at me. Nor do my weaknesses (a plenty, don't tell anybody) get taken advantage of for profit (http://www.bumfightsvideos.com/) or sport. At least I hope not.
Currently, though, my problems consist of how to figure out to move to New Orleans (as part of the Greater New Orleans Region of Teach for America) and teach a slug of kids that have much bigger fish to fry than doing their chemistry homework to learn to achieve the potential that they have in them.
Gah, I should be preparing (things to read) now.
But why is it a question that people over thirty could lead productive, useful lives? Doesn't make the future seem bright, really. Makes it uncertain.
Why did someone find it interesting enough to put on a coffee cup? (Not that that's a gold standard or something) but seriously, life is just starting to get good about then right?
We're not still buying the message Hollywood is selling are we? That you can never be too rich or too thin? (Sorry Wallis Simpson). I hope we aren't. (Young could be in there too.)
I think we're better than that.
I think that if we're ever going to make headway on this problem of homeless individuals we're going to need to stop looking up. Not that self-interest is a bad thing, we've got to take care of ourselves. Otherwise we're also going to be needing a lot more help. But if accumulating stuff, and getting better and better stuff, is the goal, we're all in a world of hurt. Because stuff doesn't make the world better.
Because I don't think you can be over thirty and not interesting, not to mention productive and useful (I hope).
Because despite this being my last post, there's still more story to be told (hint--I'm accepting applications for a future writer--hint), and that there are so many out there that could use a hand--and so many that are doing such amazing things.
You could be one of those people, even if you're over thirty (and maybe even if you're not).
There's so much to do, that much is certain.
Mother Teresea is purported to have said (maybe she did, maybe she didn't):
Nothing that we do matters. Do it anyway.
Kind of takes the uncertainty right out of it right? Nobody get's to ask what the point is there. Or, (because this is my last post, you have to let me throw all my quotes on the wall) one from Oscar Romero, S.J. (pretty sure on this one):
It helps, now and then, to step back and take a long view.
The kingdom is not only beyond our efforts,
it is even beyond our vision.
We accomplish in our lifetime only a tiny fraction
of the magnificent enterprise that is God's work.
Nothing we do is complete, which is a way of saying
that the kingdom always lies beyond us.
No statement says all that could be said.
No prayer fully expresses our faith.
No confession brings perfection.
No pastoral visit brings wholeness.
No program accomplishes the church's mission.
No set of goals and objectives includes everything.
This is what we are about.
We plant the seeds that one day will grow.
We water seeds already planted,
knowing that they hold future promise.
We lay foundations that will need further development.
We provide yeast that produces far beyond our capabilities.
We cannot do everything, and there is a sense of liberation
in realizing that. This enables us to do something,
and to do it very well. It may be incomplete,
but it is a beginning, a step along the way,
an opportunity for the Lord's grace to enter and do the rest.
We may never see the end results, but that is the difference
between the master builder and the worker.
We are workers, not master builders; ministers, not messiahs.
We are prophets of a future not our own.
Amen.
Still with me? Great. That one's a bit longer. It helps. Don't understand how there could be so much brokenness in a society that's been given so much materially? You don't have to.
Because we still can do something.
Even for those over thirty, who are worried about living productive, useful lives. It's gonna take all of us, and if anyone says they're too old, or otherwise don't have anything of use to offer, well you've got your eyes, and those count (you have to see someone to listen to them), and you've got your ears (you'll need those, definitely, because when you're considered the dregs of society not many have the time for your stories--and the stories are awesome), and if you need any more encouragement, well, I've got a cup of coffee for you.
Author's Note: thanks so much for reading, everyone, since we're all busy, and I'm honored that you're using your time to listen to what I have to say. I'll be getting a blog going for my experiences with TFA, but this one didn't start until Halloween of this year, so give me some time. In the meantime, there's plenty to do.
