Wednesday, January 30, 2013

We Are All in This Together




Melbourne Harbor, Australia
Space travel these days is nowhere near as popular in the public eye as it was when Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin walked on the moon. Today, Canadian astronaut Chris Hadfield is sure helping these efforts as he tweets from the International Space Station (ISS) several times a day. Before he blasted off from Kazakhstan on December 19, Hadfield had 20,000 Twitter followers and today he has over 283,000. I have really appreciated the view from space through his pictures and his short 140 character or less tweets. From the spectacular view of the volcanoes at Mt. Taranaki in New Zealand to the harbor in Melbourne, Australia, Chris is giving us a spectacular view of earth from the ISS. The fact that he can tweet from space and I can read it on my mobile phone moments later still amazes me and I assume this has drawn many of the 249,000 who follow him.

One of his tweets in particular a few weeks ago inspired me and has encouraged me down here on earth:


“The world just unrolls itself for you and you see it absolutely discreetly as one place.”

This statement spurs me into thinking a few things:

1. We are all in this thing called life together, all 7 billion of us
2. The sooner we can love our neighbours as ourselves and set aside our differences, the quicker the distance between us all will decrease

Today our world is divided by so many factors. Language, race, religion, gender, socio-economic status and many other factors. While some of these we are born with or born into, others we will eventually have a say in how they play out in our lives.  In my travels around the world and through my career working with people affected by homelessness and poverty I have witnessed firsthand the wide gap between the rich and poor and between the developed and developing world. I see people on the streets of downtown Calgary scurry by the gentleman begging for lunch money or the young lady caught up in prostitution who is only trying to survive in this fast paced and expensive city. When I see them I am reminded of the successful man I met who made $200k+ a year and lost his wife and children in a car accident and could not return to ‘life’. He ended up losing his home, his job and felt abandoned by his friends as they struggled to support him with his newly diagnosed mental health concerns. I am also reminded of a young lady I knew well who hated the reality of sex work but did so to make ends meet and survive the only way she knew how. As she was starting to turn things around in her life unfortunately she was tragically murdered. A close friend said once “these are our mothers and fathers; our brothers and sisters; our sons and daughters.” You see each person is one or many of those. They are a precious person made in God’s own image and they are not only living in our downtown cores or in poorer neighbourhoods, they are living next door to you, across the hall from you and likely in your very own family.

When I have the privilege to speak and educate the public on the issues of poverty and homelessness, I challenge each one from kindergarten to graduate studies that the answers for these issues lay in our hands, in our mouths and in our time. We each need to take a step back and realise that we live in our neighbourhoods right now for a time such as this. We need not travel abroad to see and help brokenness; all we need to do is look out our back window and find practical ways to love our neighbour as ourselves. These efforts will break down borders and fences we put up to keep the those who are different from ourselves or those who make us feel uncomfortable in our society and will help us realize that we are all in this thing called life together, all 7 billion of us.


Byron Bradley, Student Engagement Coordinator, The Mustard Seed
Twitter: @sportsguyB                                                                                                                                        
Follow Chris Hadfield on Twitter @Cmdr_Hadfield
 

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Monday, January 21, 2013

Downsizing

Welcome to 2013!

About 2 years ago, my lovely wife Janice and I downsized our housing. We had the traditional 2500-square-foot, 3-bedroom home with a 1000-square-foot unfinished basement that stored mostly junk… I mean, we could have run a season of Storage Wars in our basement! So, we bought a townhouse, 10 units over from my Mom, and let someone else do our yard work for us, leaving us with the challenge of what to do with all of this unnecessary stuff; all that stuff that we must have seen some value in, or else why did we keep it?

Well, Janice saw some value – we lived in that house for 7 years and there were actual boxes that had not been unpacked, along with a broken ping-pong table that one day I was (supposedly) going to repair. Like that was going to happen! 


So, choices had to be made, furniture given away, and boxes of stuff had to go.

I wonder if our walk with God can, on occasion, use this same kind of “clearing out” of the basement. I mean, just how much baggage have we gathered that common sense says, “Toss it out, why are you hanging on to that?” What are the priorities, and more importantly, what are the distractions that so easily come to us in this world? How do we avoid the kind of modern idolatry that is so prevalent in our lives, recognizing that for most of us, this will not involve worshiping false Gods. Our idolatry is much more subtle.

Money – Do not store up for yourselves treasures on this earth….. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. Matthew 6: 19-21

The number-one cause of distraction in our lives is often our money and our “stuff”: our physical possessions. More often than not, we are seeking to answer the question of “How am I going to get more money so that I can buy more stuff?” Now, personally, I like "stuff" as much as anyone. I can often be found in front of my 65-inch Samsung Idol watching some kind of sporting event. However, when our stuff becomes more important to us than God or the people in our lives, it is likely stuff that needs to be dealt with.

We are by nature easily distracted from the things that are really the best for us. It’s actually very easy to get off of a first-love relationship with God, and instead focus on things that at first glance are seemingly not a problem. Yet it is those necessary things, and those subtle things, that more often than not interfere with our walk with God.

So maybe that’s where the downsizing needs to take place in 2013 – not the obvious stuff, but the subtle stuff that we have stacked up in our spiritual basements that have prevented us from ‘seeking first His Kingdom and his righteousness, and all of these things will be given to you as well.” (Matt 6:33)


- Bill Nixon,  Director of Public Education, The Mustard Seed
@billbytheminute

Friday, January 18, 2013

Faces and Names



"Too often we underestimate the power of a touch, a smile, a kind word, a listening ear, an honest compliment, or the smallest act of caring, all of which have the potential to turn a life around."
- Leo Buscaglia

I gave my mom a tour of The Mustard Seed Calgary’s Centre Street location yesterday afternoon. She just so happened to be in the area, which was an almost-miracle in itself, as she is NEVER in the downtown core, due to the outrageous parking prices and confusing one-way traffic streets.  She also has never had the opportunity to view the building(s) where her daughter spends 5-out-of-7 days a week, even though she shares the same very strong passion and drive that I do to help the men and women in our city that are in need, so this seemed like a great time to change that. Add-in the fact that I was smack-dab in the middle of a lengthy website SEO analysis when she called and could use a quick break, so I jumped on the opportunity to show her our downtown digs.

As much of an eye-opening experience that this must have been for her, I, too, walked away from the experience with somewhat of a perspective shift. I have worked for The Mustard Seed long enough that I find I am generally pretty comfortable in my surroundings that include daily interaction with a portion of the homeless population in Calgary. I’d estimate that I could pass anywhere from 20-50 individuals who are experiencing homelessness on any given day, whether I’m running back and forth between buildings for meetings, running an errand, or grabbing lunch. These men and women may be lining up for an afternoon meal, chatting among themselves outside of our doors, or simply walking down the streets in our neighborhood. It’s often a highlight of my day to have a brief chat in passing with them – “Hi, how are you doing?” “This is what’s new with my family; this is what happened the other day; man it is cold/warm/windy/sunny out today!”

So, I was slightly taken aback when I noticed the small amount of timidity and apprehension in my mom’s mannerism as guests approached us for a quick chat, as if she wasn’t quite sure how to react to them. It caused me to rewind my mind into the past and consider my own views on homeless men and women prior to my time working at The Mustard Seed. I remember being somewhat nervous as well when I would be approached for spare change while walking down the street or entering a store, and would respond with either a quick “I’m sorry, I don’t have any”, or else by dropping some money into their open hands if I had any available with a quick smile. Needless to say, I definitely hadn’t been Little Miss Suzie Sunshine striking up any lasting conversations!

It’s amazing to compare and contrast my views now, after almost a year and a half of working in such close proximity with our homeless population. If I could summarize what I have learned of my dealings with these men and women in any one way, I would say that I’ve found that these people are really “just like you and I”. They have good days, and bad days. Good things happen in their lives, and so do bad things. They have relationships that mean the world to them, families, hobbies and passions. They struggle in their faith, experience hurt emotions, and also experience moments of happiness and excitement. They are often interesting to talk to, and many of those conversations have come to be a permanent highlight of my day. As one fellow in particular had mentioned to me just last week, “We are not dangerous – we are just misunderstood”.

I made a quiet promise to myself yesterday to become more aware and deliberate in my conversations; to make sure I am relaying this information as much as possible in my daily life. Not just in our social media postings or other digital interactions for The Mustard Seed, but also to my own friends and family. The money that you, our donors, so generously give to our organization and the hours that you, our volunteers, so diligently spend here in service do not just support a nameless, faceless statistic on the street -  rather, they support individual men and women, each with a unique story to tell of their own - stories of pain, trials and tribulations, dreams, goals, and hopes for the future.
 
"The place to improve the world is first in one's own heart, and head, and hands." 
- Robert M. Pirsig


- Jennifer Fast, Digital Marketing & Web Manager, The Mustard Seed
@loveismotion222


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Tuesday, January 15, 2013

Love in Action



“For one human being to love another, that is perhaps the most difficult of all of our tasks; the ultimate, the last test and proof, the work for which all other work is but preparation.”
-Rainer Maria Rilke

The streets are covered in snow. The markings of foot and tire remain etched into its whiteness, tall corporations stand in stark comparison to the blue in the sky and outside the doors of The Mustard Seed, a crowd of people are waiting to be let in for lunch.

One year ago I would have not known a single face in this crowd.  I had just returned to Calgary and was far removed from the world that exists on Centre Street and 11 Avenue.  All of this changed when I was hired on as an Employment Coach.

I was admitted into this world, into this vortex of pain and loss, healing and resurrection.  This street, where the lives of the people who access The Mustard Seed services are lived out, was suddenly my own.  Since then I have walked up and down this street, standing with those upon it.  I have run from the 102 building to the 106 building, crossing Centre Street multiple times a day.  I entered the premises of these lives, that once seemed so separate and unlike my own.
There are moments I look from the window at those faces below, faces that emerge from the black and blue collars of the oversized coats that are worn. Faces full of lines that share where they have been, and I wonder if my place here is relevant.  Does my part in their world make a bit of difference?  Is it possible that despite my reservations and fears I can find within myself the strength to love them; the love that not only brightens their lives but also my own?

I come face to face with the answer every now and then, it occurs at the pivotal moments when I forget where I stand in relation to them.  When I do not view them from the window but when I engage in relationship with them on that street below.  

The pivotal moments I speak of orbit around our meagre attempts to love, and at times transform the moments themselves, ergo, the lives that exist within them.  

The Moments:  Dropping a guest off at an interview and experiencing the nervousness of waiting to hear all about it. Listening with pride as an employer talks about how well the guest is doing in a job they had just acquired.  Sitting with a guest and listening to their story.  The moments that bring me closer to our guests are those moments that pull me into their world, seamlessly, without effort.  This is love in action.

And this I know, for one human being to love another is the most difficult of tasks, and also one of the most rewarding.  I have found that to love is to render oneself to equal bouts of hope and fear; to rise and fall with our guests in the mutual experience of their hopes and fears.

So now, as I watch the streets that surround The Mustard Seed, I do not see strangers that exist there in a world that is not my own.  I see a man who recently lost his daughter, a woman who just left an abusive relationship, a brother who just lost his job, and a sister who is looking for a second chance, in a world that we share.  Through these shared experiences we learn to love.  When we learn to love we become transformed.  

- Laura S, Employment Coach, The Mustard Seed
Laura S on Twitter: @schoenberglaura
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Wednesday, January 09, 2013

What I Didn't Enjoy About Serving the Poor on Christmas Eve



Christmas Eve 2012, Calgary:  Minus 25 degrees celsius and FREE-ZING.  There went our idea of walking downtown handing out our carefully made homemade care packages for the homeless.  I was wondering what to do, as its no easy task taking two boys under the age of 6 out on the best of days.

I decided we would drive around downtown and pass out the packages through the window.  Easy, right?  It was a brilliant plan except for the fact that there was no one out on the streets.  I decided to pop into our local homeless shelter and they graciously allowed us to stand at the door while guests entered the building to give out our gifts.

The kids loved handing out our packages to the guests as they came through the door.  I was having fun as well, but this nagging thought kept going through my mind as the guests hustled along through the doors after they had received their gift.  "Does this truly make them feel special?", I thought to myself.   My answer to myself was, "Of course, how could it not!", but the more I saw our little Christmas joy as a do-good assembly line, the more dissatisfied I became.

Don't get me wrong, I know the guests were thankful.  It was wonderful to see the smiles on their faces, but I wonder how many people head down to the shelters around Christmas, do their good deed, and then leave?  I didn't want to just give and leave, yet that's exactly what we were doing: giving then leaving.  On the way back to the van, my six year old asked; "Can we go get fries now?".  Good deed done - now lets get fries.   Am I the only oddball to not be ok with this?

I wanted to give these homeless guests something greater that day.  I wanted to give them my full attention, an engaging conversation.  I wanted to give them more than a two second smile before they had to carry on through the door.  I would have loved to sit down at a table to shoot the breeze for a few minutes with even just a few of them. I wanted them to feel valued.... noticed.
It took us only fifteen minutes to give all our packages away before we left to go back to our comfy lives.

When it comes to giving to the homeless, I don't do it to be altruistic or to even teach my kids about "giving back".  I don't do it so we can be reminded about how lucky we are.  I do it because my Savior adores the poor.  I do it because I see humanity in them.  I do it because within the depths of my soul I care earnestly for their well-being.  So you can see why a quick handout isn't enough for me to give.  I long to give them more than that.  I believe they deserve more.

I pray my dissatisfaction can turn into tangible change in my own life in how I interact with the poor throughout 2013.

- Connie Jakab

Originally posted on January 7, 2013 here.


Check out Connie Jakab's blog at http://culturerebel.com where she blogs about her family's adventures in serving the less fortunate and her continued rebellion to what culture tells us.  Be sure to pick up her book, "Culture Rebel - because the world has enough desperate housewives" at http://culturerebel.com/books/.   You can find Connie on Twitter at @ConnieJakab
 

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