Why we're here...

"I passed a man bathing in the drain
He said “i am jesus christ come back again”
And as i passed i turned to see
A man across the road cussin’ he for blasphemy.
But as i walked i started to wonder
Which man of the two was the blasphemer:
The one who said he was the lord himself
Or the next one who cyan’t see the lord in someone else." [Kobo Town]

"...For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in,  I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.’     “Then the righteous will answer him, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink?  When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you?  When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?’
   “The King will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.’ [Matthew 25: 35-40]

Last night around the dinner table we all talked about why we're here. The reasons were as varied as the people at the table. A father and son are celebrating the son's graduation from high school by doing a service trip together. A kindergarten teacher visited New Orleans during Mardi Gras and is excited to be back here to work. A seasoned volunteer who has been at many Mennonite Disaster Service projects really enjoys using his building and problem skills to help people in  need. For a student here on an internship, service is a way of life and an intrinsic part of being Mennonite. Another volunteer, whose work at home is counselling survivors of emotional trauma, is learning that she can also embody God's love by swinging a hammer. 

It drew a laugh when I said that I believe we all have different gifts and that mine is the gift of stamina. It is true though. I have been gifted with a good deal of energy, curiosity, and creativity about how to live, and I want to put it to use serving people.  I believe we are meant to see people the way God sees them, and that means seeing some good in everyone, impossible as that may seem. There is no way I can do that on my own, but I have found that when I serve people I begin to see them through different eyes -- eyes that are closer to God's eyes. Even yesterday morning when the work crews were packing their lunches at 6am: one of the volunteers asked me for a different kind of bread and my first response was to feel grumpy. The next moment though, I remembered that she is a person with preferences, just as I am, and that it is part of what makes her unique. And I have always said I celebrate diversity! A good lesson for me. [We now have 3 kinds of sandwich bread.]

I am also here because, like Henry David Thoreau, I want to "live deep and suck out all the marrow of life... and not when I had come to die discover that I had not lived." This world was made wonderful and diverse and I want to see and experience as much as I can in however many years I have in which to do it. So far I have seen huge contrasts in New Orleans, from mansions to ruins, from celebration to devastation. In a way, this city feels like a microcosm of the world.