take a step outside of your comfort zone
Dorothy Day, Obl.S.B., (8 November 1897 – 29 November 1980) was an American journalist, social activist and devout Catholic convert; she advocated the Catholic economic theory of Distributism. She was also considered to be an anarchist and did not hesitate to use the term. In the 1930s, Day worked closely with fellow activist Peter Maurin to establish the Catholic Worker movement, a nonviolent, pacifist movement that continues to combine direct aid for the poor and homeless with nonviolent direct action on their behalf.
I am telling you this because I was reading in yesterday's paper about the good things the Dorothy Day Center in St. Paul has been doing. Opened in 1982, they have since reached out to more than 6000 people per year, people in need of a home, food, shelter....the basic needs of any one of us. These people have issues relating to addictions, mental illness and more, yet they have not been forgotten and are not judged, but rather, ministered to through kindness and compassion. The "lowest" members of society are treated as well as any one of us.
Why do we turn a blind eye to folks such as these? Read on:
"I got dropped off at Dorothy Day on March 11, 2011, because I had nowhere else to go after getting kicked out of rehab, and my mom said I couldn't stay with her and my dad," said Nicole, 27, who asked to be
Nancy was right; that night, Nicole was not alone and she was not
outside in the cold. She had food to eat, people to talk to and a bed
to sleep in, with "as many blankets as I wanted" (five) to keep her
warm. More than a year later, the people of Dorothy Day, including "Kim,
the most awesome case manager in the world," are still walking with Nicole, helping her and now
celebrating with her as she prepares to move into a place of her own, her first place, a one-bedroom apartment in St. Paul.
Nicole, who lives at Dorothy Day for now, is a volunteer, too. "I help with breakfast. My specialty is washing and cutting the
fruit," she said. "I've also planted rosebushes and scrubbed toilets."
What Dorothy Day saw in people is what we all should be able to see: that they are one of us. Look beyond the despair of alcoholism, the drug addictions, the homelessness. Look instead to the fact that they have needs just as you and I do. Can they be denied so easily while we live in comfort? I think not. I think also of how close some come to becoming homeless due to their "habits." I have received comments many times from those who were one step away from living under a bridge just because no one understood what they were going through.
I will not forget the time, back in the late 80's, when I was working as a cashier at a grocery store. It was about 11:30 p.m. and a family of four, a mom, dad and their two young children, seemed to be wandering aimlessly throughout the store. I noticed the pile of coats and not much else in the cart, as well as the kids, who were asleep. My gut said to offer help. I knew what they tried to hide: they had nowhere to go. I gave them the number of the Dorothy Day Center in St. Paul, just five short miles away. The dad informed me they had just lost their apartment and were homeless. He seemed grateful that someone understood and cared, as he had no idea of what to do next. As I wished them well, I hoped that they would soon find sanctuary.
Imagine now...what if that had been you--the fear of the unknown looming in your life. Losing everything and having nothing except maybe...hope that tomorrow may be a better day and if not then, maybe the day after.
For today--and everyday, step outside of your comfort zone and really feel what it is like to be living on the outside, looking in. Then go the extra mile and offer yourself to service of those who need you most.
It's what Jesus would do.
it is something that even Mother Teresa of Calcutta knew all too well. There is a Calcutta all over the world.
I am telling you this because I was reading in yesterday's paper about the good things the Dorothy Day Center in St. Paul has been doing. Opened in 1982, they have since reached out to more than 6000 people per year, people in need of a home, food, shelter....the basic needs of any one of us. These people have issues relating to addictions, mental illness and more, yet they have not been forgotten and are not judged, but rather, ministered to through kindness and compassion. The "lowest" members of society are treated as well as any one of us.
Why do we turn a blind eye to folks such as these? Read on:
"I got dropped off at Dorothy Day on March 11, 2011, because I had nowhere else to go after getting kicked out of rehab, and my mom said I couldn't stay with her and my dad," said Nicole, 27, who asked to be
identified
only by her first name. "I walked into Dorothy Day with all my things
in a backpack - a family photo, a scarf and a pillow. "My heart was broken that day, and I was crying," she said. "A
therapist named Nancy sat and talked to me for two hours. What I
remember most about what she told me is this: 'You're not in this alone.
We won't leave you.' "
What Dorothy Day saw in people is what we all should be able to see: that they are one of us. Look beyond the despair of alcoholism, the drug addictions, the homelessness. Look instead to the fact that they have needs just as you and I do. Can they be denied so easily while we live in comfort? I think not. I think also of how close some come to becoming homeless due to their "habits." I have received comments many times from those who were one step away from living under a bridge just because no one understood what they were going through.
I will not forget the time, back in the late 80's, when I was working as a cashier at a grocery store. It was about 11:30 p.m. and a family of four, a mom, dad and their two young children, seemed to be wandering aimlessly throughout the store. I noticed the pile of coats and not much else in the cart, as well as the kids, who were asleep. My gut said to offer help. I knew what they tried to hide: they had nowhere to go. I gave them the number of the Dorothy Day Center in St. Paul, just five short miles away. The dad informed me they had just lost their apartment and were homeless. He seemed grateful that someone understood and cared, as he had no idea of what to do next. As I wished them well, I hoped that they would soon find sanctuary.
Imagine now...what if that had been you--the fear of the unknown looming in your life. Losing everything and having nothing except maybe...hope that tomorrow may be a better day and if not then, maybe the day after.
For today--and everyday, step outside of your comfort zone and really feel what it is like to be living on the outside, looking in. Then go the extra mile and offer yourself to service of those who need you most.
It's what Jesus would do.
hey there! Its so easy to dismiss us alcoholics. After all, we can say and do things drunk that a sane person would only think of sober. I was one step away from being homeless. Let me tell you, some of my buddies, who went too far, were tossed out, and died soon after. Life on the streets is tough. In this economy, why should social programs worry about US? They have other things to think about. To know that someone is on "our side," which is NOT an easy place to be, believe me, but to tolerate us...note, I did NOT say ENABLE, but to offer us a place to stay and compassion for when we fall/fail, because we will...it means so much. Thank God for you, Rev Baum...you have lit that path for us. The darkness isn't so scary anymore.
ReplyDeletedon't make excuses...if you believe you can quit drinking, then you will. I am thinking, Andy W, that you are just looking for excuses to not stop drinking. and if whoever you're staying with allows it, then it DOES make him or her an enabler. Someone needs to step tot he plate and lay down the law...quit or go. Just my opinion. I say it because my wife did it. I chose to quit drinking to stay with her.
ReplyDeleteAA believer: if you had read the book "There but for the Grace of God..." you would have seen the point that was being made here. There are so many many alcoholics who, despite AA, detox, treatments, etc cannot control or quit drinking. The reason they are still around is that someone took it upon themselves to love them for who they are. They function, but just barely. They are you and me....they work, they have a family and they also have that "dirty little secret." I would recommend that you read this book by Diane Ganzer Baum before you pass judgment, for what she wrote about is who you are!
ReplyDeletethanks for the understanding
DeleteWhoof Dah! I haven't had time to check on here for a while as things just keep happening and take my attentions elsewhere. Isn't life grand?
ReplyDeleteI suppose it is if you are an AA believer. Although, as you may be able to see from his writing, many of the AA believers have put themselves on their imaginary pedastles (sp.?) and chose to look down on those of us who were not able to be pussy whipped into submission. I have found, throughout my wanderings, many, many of the so called "Sober Again" people seem to be rather unhappy, joyless and grumpy. They like to point fingers and judge others, according to their own rules, made by themselves, or their so called better halves. They are not homeless, probably never even close to it. They chose to be miserably sober. Good for them. I think?
But for those of us, HEY ANDY W!!, who, for whatever reason, will probably die intoxicated, and with a smile on our face, seem to understand that to judge others for the simple unreasonable thought that they are less than me or you because of whatever crap got tossed at them and they couldn't get back up after being knocked down AGAIN, and AGAIN, and AGAIN, well, I am going to raise my Bud and say Bottoms Up!
The story of the family wandering around a grocery store near broke my heart! Do you, AA Believer, think he/she/they should have just decided to quit? Go to another meeting and think on that.
Thank you Rev. Baum. From the heart.
wow...never has anything moved me as much as this blog and today's postings.....so honest! I always thought, "once a bum, always a bum." Now my eyes have been opened. Thank you for helping me to see this! and to rob, Andy and "another rob," I wish you all well.
ReplyDelete