Here We Go, Together.

I ran into a man outside Primavera last night. He was not expecting me, I was not expecting him. He had several bags with him and I told him he could stay. But he wouldn't respond to anything I said, and just walked away quickly, even leaving a bag behind. I wrote this this morning while at work. (Pardon my lack of poetry skills, but it's the best expression of my experience I think). There are just so many that fall between the cracks. You once had a name. And someone who loved, brought you into this earth. When did they decide you had no worth? When did you decide not to respond? To stay alone On the stoop, In the corners. In the corners of our buildings In the corners of our eyes. Never in our eyes, Our pupils, our minds. So then we can tell you, Out the corners of our eyes, That you have no name, There’s no need to respond. So you can remain There in a corner. On the stoop You can stay Silent. Alone.  Peace my friends.

"Advent should admonish us to discover in each brother or sister that we greet, in each friend whose hand we shake, in each beggar who asks for bread, in each worker who wants to use the right to join a union, in each peasant who looks for work in the coffee groves, the face of Christ. Then it would not be possible to rob them, to cheat them, to deny them their rights. They are Christ, and whatever is done to them Christ will take as done to himself. This is what Advent is: Christ living among us." - Oscar Romero December 3, 1978

The Park- there is a park at the end of our street that I usually start my run on. There are people there I see almost every time I run. I want to open with some thoughts that began to run through my head….as I ran through the park. Red-jacket-ed man and blue hat-ed woman . These 2 are always sitting at the same picnic table. … Lap 1… What do they need? It’s cold- blankets. Homeless people are always hungry- food. It’s Thanksgiving soon- maybe I should bring them to our feast. Yes, or maybe I should just bring them some food after we eat. Clothes?   … Lap 2 … Wow, they have a lot of stuff. Shopping carts full of stuff. And, a hot pot? With hot water? Jackets, blankets? But still, there’s got to be something that they need that I can provide…. Lap 3 … I wave. Red-jacketed man looks fairly confused, and perhaps not too thrilled by my gesture. Maybe they don’t want my help? But no, I know. They must need something. … And I keep going, around the track in circles. Trying to figure out ...

‘I don’t know--’ the phrase that continues to appear throughout my journal. I may ask a question prior to this response, or simply insert it into the middle of a run-on sentence. Upon looking through the past month’s entries, I first began to wonder ‘do I really know anything ?’… And then it occurred to me that what may have seemed like sheer ignorance, could be better described as assured uncertainty. Quite an oxymoron, I know. There are homeless individuals who have been coming to some of our emergency relief programs for over twenty years. These programs are supposed to help people move up a rung on the ladder. But are we doing something wrong, or is this a lifestyle they desire to continue?   I don’t know . A man came the main office’s front door after-hours the other day and said, “Hey, I have a question. The sign says HIP- Homeless Intervention and Prevention. What exactly are you preventing ?” I don’t know. Jan Brewer is probably going to remain governor of Arizona. Why? I...

On Friday, I read an article in the Arizona Daily Star headlined “Arizona is now no. 2 in poverty.” One in five Arizonans are living below the poverty line. And I’m fairly certain that a life hovering above that line is nothing near easy. So, that statistic can’t even begin to capture the amount of individuals living with too little food, unsafe housing, and an immeasurable amount of stress. And here I am in South Tucson, Arizona. As of last year, the poverty rate for this 1.2 square mile of a city was at 46.2%. That’s almost half of the population living below this “line.” The Primavera Foundation where I am working has several emergency shelters, as well a handful of transitional housing programs. As of late, they are usually all at or near capacity. Earlier this week I spent the morning in the central intake office. People can call this office to learn about and apply for housing programs. Because I am so new to the foundation, I could not actually answer telephone calls- I simply l...

The past few weeks have been a whirlwind for sure. After a week in the green, rainy, cool Stony Point, NY, we headed to the hot, dry, not-so-green, but fascinatingly beautiful Tucson, AZ. We’ve unpacked our things, biked, settled into our in-need-of many-repairs home, biked some more, been to Southside Presbyterian Church, spent some time biking, and started our new jobs. Oh yeah, and did I mention we bike everywhere? As I spent some time reflecting I thought about what I expected to feel in my return to Tucson. I expected to be reminded of painful things. I expected to be overly contemplative. And I expected to be forcing myself to stay present. But, God has blessed me incredibly as I have been here. I have been reminded of the incredible community of people that make up this culturally diverse place and the joy it brings me. I am so thankful for the opportunity to be present in this place once again. I pray that through my work and life I will learn to spread a rose-like fragrance...

Hello All, I am wondering how long it is going to take me to get used to this blogging thing- so bear with me as I'm a bit new. Well, I leave for orientation on Monday so I've begun to think about packing, rode my bike once, and brushed some dust off the layers of my rusty espanol. Somewhat to my surprise, I have loved being at home in Waco over the past few weeks. The time I've had with parents has been a true blessing. I feel as though I've haven't been as present-minded in a very long time. I might regret my lack of thinking about the future when I get to Tucson, but I'd rather deal with a forgotten toothbrush than realize I'd wasted precious time worrying about the unknown. I'm looking forward to meeting my future house-mates, seeing where I'm living, and starting this new chapter. Peace, Mer