Monday was Canadian Thanksgiving. After having received a snapchat from a Canadian friend wishing me the happiest of days, I declared celebration. Someone found a whole turkey in the freezer and another gal exclaimed, "We need decorations!" Monday evening, we celebrated Thanksgiving, complete with turkey hats, mashed potatoes and green bean casserole. It was silly, especially for grown adults to wear half a paper plate covered in construction paper and crayon on their head, yet everyone willingly participated.
Tuesday evening a friend and I walked the night streets handing out hot chocolate. Three people accepted, 2 hugs were given, and many declined. One man, with a distorted expression of disgust, asked, "Are you trying to poison me?!" Well, no, unless you are lactose intolerant, allergic to chocolate or have a sugar sensitivity, we are not trying to poison you. Almost every person asked, very confused, "Why are you doing this?" For me, I desired to do this because I miss meeting people on the streets the way I would in Vegas. It was an easy way to meet and pray for people. My friend had better words: "We just want to love people." Simple. Her tender heart sought to love people first and foremost because she understood what the love of Christ has done for her. She had a boldness to speak with each person, a smile revealing her joy, and bright eyes seeing the one in front of her as an opportunity to love.
Wednesday we had a good-by party for a Mission Builder (YWAM program). He showed up one day, came into our building and asked if we needed any help. And, naturally, we did not deny him. He quickly became part of the community. I am not sure how long he was here, maybe a month, but it felt as though he was always here. Him and I would often talk about organic food and gardening, working out and the impact of health on our spiritual walk; we could also often be found extra, highly processed desserts in the kitchen. He came and served: painted, cleaned, dug most of the basement, whatever we needed, he was willing. I did not hear him complain once, rather, he saw the value in each one of us at the base, and did not let a single moment go by without being intentional. Full of wisdom, love and displayed a true father's heart, he even cut the turkey for us.
Friday for community outreach we went to long term care. I held a lady's hand for a while. Ruth was viciously shaking, eyes occasionally opening, lips cracked, and soft, confused words. She kept asking me, calling me the operator, to please put her eggs away, they were sitting on the counter. I frequently reintroduce myself to her, she would then turn her head away from me and tell the empty chair on the other side of her of about the nice lady who came to speak with her. As I held her hand, gently rubbing her loose, wrinkly skin, her shaking hands calmed.
Ruth could not impart wisdom she acquired over the years, share favorite recipes, or go for walks and laugh. Occasionally she would say something relevant or in recognition of her surroundings, but mostly she was confused and incomprehensible. She could do nothing but show me the frailty of life and the future reality for many. It was awkward. I did not know what to do. I wanted to leave, turn my eye away, take my hand back, put the reality of her daily activity being a confused body restrained to a chair away, not thinking any more about her, but going on in comfortable living. I did not want to love her widowed, orphaned state. I did not want to be uncomfortable any longer.
In 1 Samuel 22, David is hiding from Saul who is looking to kill him. As David is hiding in a cave, his family and all those in distress, debt and bitter in soul come and join him (22:2), about 400 in all. With these 400 outcast men, David forms an army to fight for the Lord's will. This is the redeeming heart of the Father: calling all those in distress, debt and bitter in soul, come, fight for Me. Looking past the physical, He seeks to redeem us back to our warrior state.
We hosted many extra people Monday and Tuesday who wanted to here the DTS lecture speaker. In Canadian Thanksgiving, loving people with hot chocolate, Bart's going away party and sitting with people who may not have remembered us five minutes after we left, we are seeking to honor and respect them for the warrior God made them to be. Each one of us has the characteristics of the outcast. We are the outcast, created to furiously love the one, redeemed to boldly fight for the Kingdom to come to earth, and chosen to tenderly hold the hands of our brothers and sisters.
"The gospel is absurd and the life of Jesus is meaningless unless we believe that He lived, died, and rose again with but one purpose in mind: to make brand-new creation. Not to make people with better morals but to create a community of prophets and professional lovers, men and women who would surrender to the mystery of the fire of the Spirit that burns within, who would live in ever greater fidelity to the omnipresent Word of God, who would enter into the center of it all, the very heart and mystery of Christ, into the center of the flame that consumes, purifies, and sets everything aglow with peace, joy, boldness, and extravagant, furious love. This, my friend, is what it really means to be a Christian."
-Brennan Manning
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