Setting Prisoners Free

This week has been crazy. There's been SO much happening, it's been a roller-coaster of activity. It''s only Tuesday, but there's been too many highs and lows, too much depressing news, BUT there's also been plenty of encouraging rays of light sprinkled throughout these couple of days. That's the way it's been! Non-stop action, and that's my life at the shelter. Always on the move, trying to decipher the tornado of action that comes barreling toward me. Tackling it all, and praying I tackle it the right way, praying I use wisdom and praying that love flows from me! Death smacked us in our face; Walter was murdered in cold blood, suffering the fate of 8 bullets. ( link to what I wrote yesterday ) This was devastating news, but life in our little homeless community rapidly blasted on as usual. I felt I was living the evening news, where we hear horrible things and then automatically transition into joyful celebration. Working here means going up ...

Today was a very sad day.... I lost a friend to a gun; a brutal, devastating shot to the head, and then another 7 bullets corroded my friend's body. In the early afternoon and in the midst of the Wilson Avenue crowd, these shots rang out in the Uptown sky, murdering an unarmed friend. Walter was his name, and for some mysterious reason, these men decided to walk up to him and take this young man's life.   Image attributed to this Chicago Now article As a few stories rippled around the neighborhood, as people were trying to make sense of this senseless act, many of us mourned his tragic end. Walter wasn't out there, gang-banging, drugging, drinking, starting fights and causing trouble; instead he was out there, struggling and fighting to overcome and succeed. He was a decent young man, who had just conquered homelessness; he had finally got a home to call his own and had a baby on the way. Sadly, he'd achieved his dream, only for it to be shattered by the bru...

There are times when people step into our lives and present ongoing dilemmas. These people are never easy. These people become our constant headaches, heartaches and bellyaches. These people are there, leaving us scratching our heads at the crossroads, asking us to put our faith into action. At this intersection, we are required to make some radical choices; do we neglect or embrace, do we persevere with them or toss them aside, do we them kick to the curb or allow ongoing tension to constantly resonate? The one big question that sums it all up is; do we choose to ignore this person or do we love them with the radical revolutionary love presented in the gospels; the Love Jesus proclaimed and commanded His followers to imitate? I purposely chose "ignore" over "hate" as the contrasting word to "love", because when it comes to these folk, most people won't get within a mile of them to allow themselves to feel any hate! Hate is more likely to arise wh...

This was the sermon Beth preached at JPUSA today (9/30/12), based off the reading of Luke 8:40-56; the healing of the bleeding woman. Even in the crowd, she was alone. She was considered "unclean" and "unworthy", probably through no fault of her own. She had lived for over a decade without the sympathy and understanding of people, without any regular everyday fellowship and kindness. She had been broken by harsh judgements and the knowledge that others viewed her as "undeserving"; this had seeped into her own soul and she began to believe it, and she lived accordingly. She stumbled along after Jesus, at a safe distance. Jesus was being hurried to the deathbed of a child. Not just any child; the child of an important and religious man. Everyone felt that this was a worthy mission. Word traveled quickly; this was no ordinary miracle, this was special! This was a young person with a good name, truly a justified miracle. In everyone's eyes, she was deser...