Central United Protestant Blog

Home decorating shows call it…”The Reveal.” It was bigger than we had anticipated. Just over $10,000 dollars from a week of frigid campers paying for the privilege to self-identify with the houseless. A generous benefactor wrote a substantial check to help us reach this amazing gift, presented to the Union Gospel Mission Sunday afternoon.

Special thanks to all of those hearty campers who made this week so enjoyable and meaningful! I loved being your next door neighbor for a season. Special thanks to Ben cook for all he did as our Project coordinator and Leader in pulling this whole thing together! Your were AMAZING Ben! We couldn’t have done it without you! And special thanks to the Central church family who has always wanted to be a church that is IN the community, OF the community and FOR the community. You Rock!

How does your day normally end?  Calm, quiet evening in your living room?  Maybe reading a book for awhile in your bed?  Grabing a favorite snack out of the kitchen while enjoying an activity?  Perhaps catching a late night show before lights out?  When you live in a tent (or under a bridge, in a box or an alley stairwell) there are just some things you don’t do at night.  Here’s my short list: watch TV, surf the net, talk on the phone, raid the fridge, change your clothes, soak in a relaxing tub, lounge on a comfortable couch, look at the clock, entertain company or adjust the thermostat.  Perhaps you can think of others.

Life at home is centered around many patterns and rhythms that become deeply engrained in our emotional and mental psychie.  There are many things we have come to take for granted that aren’t a part of the homeless experience; essentially, we call that the life of options.  Sometimes it’s the case that what we DIDN’T DO becomes more descriptive of our lives than what we have done or will do any given day. 

Last night, as I lay in my tent home, I nestled into my reduced reality.  No wandering and walking throughout this “house.”  “Confined to recline” is another way to put it!  How many of us know what it’s like for our heads and our feet to simultaneously push against the walls of our homes as we sleep?   Surrounded by cool, damp air, we “live” in our dark bedroom – somewhat dank (it has been four days now!) and cluttered (turns out the floor is our closet, drawers and counter space all wrapped into one).  For most of us, we see the evenings as a time for RELAXING.  For others (who are surviving), their evenings are for REGROUPING.  What are our options?  what is our strategy tonight?  What a discouraging way to end your day.  What was your “DIDN’T” from last night?

“He didn’t give us any food, and we didn’t take anything for ourselves!” (2 Samuel 19:42b CEV)

Three days ago, as I prepared to “Raise my tent,” I stared into my closet stuffed full of clothes.  What to bring?  One back pack is what I had decided in advance, no more.  Something you could easily carry on your back and remain mobile, as many homeless are.  I stuffed the usual — thick wool socks, underwear, heavy pants, shirts, warm vests and coats.  One dop kit, a towel, a pair of boots and I’m off.  Life was ready to be lived out of a back pack.  No food, no medicine chest, no restroom, no couch, TV or cozy posture-pedic bed — just some simple body coverings in a thick canvas back pack. 

What would you pack in your back pack if you only had two cubic feet to stuff and cram full of provisions?  Travel lightly, we are told.  Reuse, reduce, recycle and RE-THINK what really works outside the walls.  What looks good, what’s pleasing or desireable may not fit the bill.  Suddenly, the “warm-ugly” is very appealing over the “trendy-breezy!”  Back packs and shopping carts — the mobile storage bins of homeless people.  Possessions may not a home make, but for survival they are a sacred necessity to our “taking cover.”  small things become huge when these mobile mercies  (like a foldable tarp) keep us dry another night.  This moldable, foldable tarp becomes my sheet rock, siding and shingles to bear yet another cold, damp night.

Many have spoken of the inconvenience of “living out of a suitcase” as we travel abroad for business or pleasure.  This portable “home-away-from-home” most frequently is accompanied by a luggage stand in your hotel room outfitted  with fresh towels, clean restrooms, warm, comfortable beds, phone and TV.  Life in a suitcase may be wearisome at times, but life in a back pack is limiting, lonely, left out and, often times, a lessoning of divine potential. 

“And He sent them out to proclaim the kingdom of God and to perform healing. And He said to them, ‘Take nothing for your journey, neither a staff, nor a bag, nor bread, nor money; and do not even have two tunics apiece.  Whatever house you enter, stay there until you leave that city”  (Luke 9:2-4 NASB)

Turtles carry their homes on their backs; so do many homeless people.  My home is a shell of many layers; all temporary, all permeable.  Wind, air, heat or extreme cold; my house is not entirely my own–the elements press in uninvited.  My layers remind me that it is a battle to live without a house.  Tarps, tents, long-johns, wool socks (two pairs - one set over the other), bodly-glove winter shirt, stocking cap, sweat-shirt with hoodie, sweat pants, down sleeping bag with one old heavy sleeping bag on top for extra-thick coverage and a thin foam pad beaneath my sleeping bag (but above my air mattress) to insulate from the cold from below.  Layer after layer after layer!

It’s work to build a house around your body.  Almost makes you not want to go to the bathroom once you’ve gotten all situated.  Even now, I am secure, but only as a guest in another person’s tent.  Even this shell is not my home.  It belongs to another.  “The Son of Man has nowhere to lay his head” (Matthew 8:20).  It rained Monday night.  The patter of raindrops on the tent lulled us to sleep.  It is cold and wet….again!  Camp is quiet.  A few coughs “two houses down,” the drone of cars passing by and, of course, more snoring from the neighbors.  The zipping sound of nearby tents means people are on the move…coming and going.  We woke up to ice-drops frozen on the outside tent walls.  We made it through another night - but what will this day bring?

If you haven’t already, swing by and say hello to this new neighborhood.  Come out to one of our nightly meetings at 7:00 PM and learn about homelessness.  Consider even camping out one night to see what life out in the cold is like.  Come join the fun and meaning of learning!

Monday, January 18th.  RAISE YOUR TENTS campout has begun!  My first night out under the canopy of creation is over.  Phew!  A skeptic might say - one down and six to go!  Actually, even though we were covered with the shroud of misty rain, the embrace of the dark, damp night didn’t halt the campfire conversations and sharing time in stillness and friendship.  What began as a relatively comfortable evening dropped steadily down to low temperatures with ice on the tent in the morning. 

I was struck  by the solemnity and stillness of this new temporary “neighborhood.”  The occasional distant noise of a plane far overhead; the infrequent clap of the plastic sanican door slamming shut (I was one of those late-night visitors); the drone of car tires passing by on occasion with splashing noise from water on the ground; a neighbor “two doors down” is snoring and I can hear it; cool moist air penetrates my skin and settles into my bones — I long for the sun to rise but it’s only 2:30 AM

HOMELESS - away from home; away from convenience; away from comforts (relatively speaking); away from my family.  No late night cuddles next to the one I love.  No pictures on walls and carefully placed heirlooms to remind me who I am.  HOMELESS - away from what grounds me and what defines me; away from belonging, significance and centeredness.  What is it like to live alone in a tent, a car, a stairwell, a box, a storage unit?  What is “HOME” to you?  Jesus said, “Here’s the lesson: Use your worldly resources to benefit others and make friends. Then, when your earthly possessions are gone, they will welcome you to an eternal home” (Luke 16:9 NLT).  May your stay here on earth be punctuated with opportunites to remember your true address and family…169 Luke Street!

Just the other day, I was outside with my son in the sub-frigid weather putting up lights in our yard. When it came time to make some connections, it was clear that we needed a few adapters, which meant I was off to the hardware store to grab what we needed. By this time my hands had long passed the numb “can you feel me now?” stage. when I found what I needed, I went up to the check out stand. While waiting, I noticed several large pump bottles of hand sanitizer on the counter for customers. I thought it would be a good idea to grab myself a squirt. As I rubbed it on my hands, I felt a sudden sting on the inside of my finger and that’s when I discovered….I had a cut!

Sometime, while handling light strings, I had cut my finger out in the cold but didn’t even notice it. Under normal circumstances, I would have become instantly aware of my problem, but my cold and numbing environment preventing me from becoming aware of, concerned about and taking corrective action on — my injury.

As soon as all of this happened, it dawned on me as I drove away from the store…a culture of sin and compromise can be like that numbing cold! God knows that we need to be awakened to the problems of pain and sin. Paul articulates the awakening in this way: “Indeed I would not have known what sin was except through the law” (Romans 7:7b NIV). God’s word is a great way to measure our spiritual health and make sure we are aware of any areas of sin, compromise and subtle shifts in alignment with God’s vision and purpose for our lives. Yes, it can “sting” from time to time, but God’s speaks to us through His word for our benefit. The Bible says, “For the word of God is living and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart” (Hebrews 4:12 NIV).

Let the word of Christ richly dwell within you!

So I’m riding my bike recently on a clear, cold and windy Saturday.  My route takes me in winding in all four directions (north, south, east and west) and the same in reverse.  I’m huffing and puffing at first, taking a long flat stetch to the west with what feels like gale-force winds coming straight at me! :(  I think to my self as I prepare to turn due north, “what a relief it’s going to be when I get out of this head wind!”  But the moment I turn north, I suddenly encocunter strong prevailing winds from the north coming right at me!  Again, I’m thinking to myself, “this is crazy!  How can this be?”  But I know this strech won’t last long because soon, I’ll be turning east and heading down hill.  Oh, what sweet relief is on the way.  Well, as you can imagine, as soon as I was heading east and downhill…guess what?  Yes - strong, gale-force winds come right at me.  As I am fighting my way forward, I have a revelation — I am working hard to go DOWNHILL!  This is normally the time when I catch my breath and coast.  It was a frustrating moment.  What you really counted on to get you through was taken away.  And then it suddenly dawned on me…How many people feel like they have to work even to go downhill?  How many people are wrestling with life in such a way as that one passage they knew they could count on for a little bit of relief, rest and coasting was taken from them.  Then what?  What does the Bible say, ”But those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength.  They will soar on wings like eagles;  they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint” (Isaiah 40:31 TNIV). 

May the God of Heaven give us all a divine “Tail Wind” today!

It was John Wesley who once evaluated what he called “The whole of Christianity” or “the Christian enterprise” and reduced this life to five commitments he referred to as “Christian Duty.” It was his way of saying, “what is the essence of faith being lived in a person’s life?” How would you answer that Question? This is what Wesley said:

          o The renouncing of ourselves (Matthew 16:24)
          o The devoting of ourselves to God (2 Corinthians 5:15)
          o Self-Denial (Philippians 2:3)
          o Continually advance in self-mortification (Gal 2:20)
          o Christ lives in me! (Ephesians 2:5)
Everything about these five “rules” says less of me and more of Him! The Bible suggests (commands) that you and I must die before we can truly live. It is the greatest paradox we must overcome if we are ever to embrace “a new heaven and new earth.” What looks and sounds like hardship and defeat is nothing less than deliverance and restoration into “the life that is truly life” (1 Timothy 6:19). Turns out that our “Christian Duty” is to follow through on the greatest gift in all of history. Heaven awaits our response. Flesh and blood will not inherit the Kingdom of God. Only that which is born of Spirit will endure for all eternity. Isn’t it time to ask – “What world do I want to belong to?”

At the recent men’s advance, we were challenged (among other things) to consider how God might write about us.  What words would He use to describe us?  How would He characterize us as though He were talking to another about one of His children.  As I spent time in reflection, I came to the sense of what I would want to hear.  Like any parent, there’s plenty and more-than-enough awareness of all that is wrong and incomplete about a child’s life.  But this is not the vision or hope that drives us.  We live for a different outcome.  We cling to a winning destination.  This is our…no…God’s indomitable commitment to us.  Will we hear His voice?  This is what I would love to hear:

“David is…my beloved son!.  He is my frail and insecure likeness, bearing the blush of a child aware of his Father’s over-looking approval as one who delights in a boy becoming like his Father.  He makes me proud, happy and deeply content in my creation.  He is my labor well spent and not wasted. I enjoy his innocense.  I laugh and smile at his Naïveté.  I rejoice over his desire to be with me and never tire of his time, attetnion or affection.  He is, afterall, my dream realized; the son I thought of, the one I created, the man I cherish.  He will always be with me and this brings me great joy!”

What would God say about you?  Who are you?