Setting Prisoners Free

Their combined length of homelessness outnumbers all the days I've endured on this planet. I'm only thinking of 3 chronically homeless friends, and I'm almost 41, so calculate their reality to see the deep and disturbing truth of our modern capitalist society! I don't write this to lament, but rather to celebrate! Homelessness should have never been their reality, but it struck all 3 of them and it never let go! Until we entered this blessed week..... Years of sleeping under viaducts, in trains, abandoned buildings, homeless shelters, loading docks, in dumpsters, on couches of some compassionate friends and under the hazy starless Chicago sky are finally coming to an end! Years of relentlessly trying to find somewhere to chill out during their days are also coming to an end! They'll have their own place of refuge; to relax, without a security guard or police officer invading their tranquility, by asking them to get up and move on! Years of being surrounded b...

Certain people have unknowingly and unexpectedly inspired me! The deaths of these photographed friends actually sparked a flame, causing me to want to throw gasoline on it; making the fire ferocious and last forever! Nick, George, Walter, Dave, Don and Walter aren't heroes, saints or even role-models; actually, to be honest, these men were often extremely successful in bugging, irritating and causing continual drama and conflict in my life. Now to reveal another nugget of truth; in different ways, these men were all horribly rejected, hated and despised by most people who passed them on the street. These men aren't pretty, they were all homeless and undeniably qualified among America's "least of these". I would also say that they rank incredibly high on Chicago's "undeserving poor" list. These are fellas that the "so called" elite in Uptown want to stomp on and boot out of the neighborhood; they look dreadfully unsightly, uninvitin...

Mysteriously he came; he entered our building with his Bill Cosby sweater on, unusually nervous and jittery! Laughing! He was seeking shelter.... Bob was a victim of our unstable economy. He had once lived a favored life, but his unemployment benefits had run out. He couldn't afford his place and then quickly became homeless. He lived under a bridge in his rich suburb, until "they" kicked him out of his zone of nowhere! He took his unusually terrified anxious self into the big bad city, along with his run-down middle aged body into our homeless shelter! He was desperate and had to submit to a new level of life he did not want to live! Bob was riddled with multiple health issues and the mile walk to Epworth shelter contributed to those woes. Almost daily, he would approach me, begging to move from there to our less stressful bed-spaces. These "upstairs" beds were set aside to enable our older and disabled men to get the rest they desperately needed. There is ...

Upon reflecting on 2012, I cannot help but ponder on 2 overarching themes that swamped our year at Cornerstone Community Outreach.... In my humble opinion, 2012 was a year of many great contrasts...... It was a year filled with much heartbreak and joyful celebration. There were moments of depressing reality and wonderful optimism. While people challenged us with decisive opposition, other people supported us with undeniable loyalty. There were moments of fearful anxiety, yet unmistakeable success remained constant throughout. It was a year filled with a scattering of "haters", yet no one can deny the LOVE that flowed out of the street I like to now call Hope Alley Yet despite the air of negativity; our mission, our purpose and our Love for the "least of these" hasn't died, HOPE lives and we'll keep pushing on stronger than ever! To quote the all important phrase from the marvelous short film: The Butterfly Circus : “The greater the struggle, the more...

When we think of the image of God being born in a stable and then lying in a feeding trough, we cannot help but think of love. The baby Jesus helps us to see love become more than just a mystical fantasy, a romantic feeling or sentiment, the baby Jesus makes love become real, takes us out of our comfort zones and challenges us to make crazy decisions. When I think of God, and his loving choice to surrender his power, to become a weak fragile baby, I cannot help but think of love; not only that, this love is a crazy revolutionary Love. He chose to become a baby that was not destined to become a military leader, a powerful man or a wealthy bureaucrat. NO, this Love chose to become a baby who was viewed as an illegitimate child, born homeless and who was quickly deemed a criminal by a powerful king. This Love lived his life as an outcast, constantly in conflict with the law and had "nowhere to lay his head." And then to top it off, he died a criminal's death! This ...

I write this reflection with my New Zealand friends and whanau on my mind. As we inch closer to 2013, I thought it was time to write a brief update of what's been happening here in Uptown, Chicago... I have been writing about a lot of things throughout the year; this particular post will have a number of links attached, so please feel free to click them; you can read in greater detail about some of the things I'm referring to throughout this post. 2012 has been an extremely busy year; there's been a ton of things happening and there never seems to be a dull moment, but I'll do my best to try and keep this as brief as possible. Our year started in Aotearoa; we had an absolutely wonderful time catching up with friends and family "down under". I wrote a couple reflections about the two lives we live, and the contrast between the peaceful tranquility of New Zealand and the chaotic madness of Uptown. (Of course, and it's important to note; we're al...

My co-worker introduced George to me.... He looked like an fragile old white man; he was scruffy, pale and scrawny, he had a dazed and glazed look in his eyes and when he spoke, we struggled to find any rationality or logic in his words. George seemed to be unsure who he was, where he was and what he was doing. And then there was something that made this whole situation worse; this fragile old man, who could barely stand up, was homeless! Yes, homeless! Homeless in the dead of winter! Homeless and struggling to survive. Homeless and lacking any sense of direction. Homeless and sick. Homeless and alone. Homeless and fragile! As with a number of our participants, George carried a paper bag, (protected by a plastic bag), full of his myriad of medications. He had a host of medical issues that were triggered by a failing liver, kidney problems and sarcoidosis, causing this poor fragile man to be rotating in and out of hospitals. The cost of these serious sicknesses caused George to be...