life in the south end

I don't know how to rotate this picture... but here are some pictures of the house

living here in the South End of Boston has been an adventure - taking the T and learning the buss routes - meeting the neighbors, and tramping through the ice and snow.

Friends and meetings, and connections - learning about the world of NGOs and community organizations - it is all about relationships and the network of who you know... it is amazing to watch the web unfold.
It can be overwhelming to realize how little I know, or have to offer this community... yet, it is not about me, or even about the broad issues - it is about that one woman who is sitting in her room without the freedom to leave - unable to speak the language, and feeling utterly stuck. She is here in Boston - right down the street - and perhaps she is praying that someone out there will find her, and pull her out of this nightmare.
I want to find her, yet I'm not sure how. that's what I'm learning. and more...

is it falling?

you know, sometimes it just feels like the world is falling to pieces - there is a crack there, a crumble here, and avalanche over there... and I don't know where to run to catch the drips - what piece to hold back up -there is so much! darkness is spreading - under a thin mask of "normal" there is such evil and treachery - corruption - greed - pride... the list goes on, and what is scary, is that we all are a part of it. It is in us all. How do we fight it if we are in it?
isn't that the power of Jesus? the all powerful I AM came to rescue. to break through this darkness... in ways we don't always notice, or imagine... he is at work now right? the kingdom is here.
it still can feel overwhelming
I was told by a woman I met at a vigil for Gaza in the commons a few days ago, that she had heard some words of wisdom from her professor in College,

" Get it into your head that you can't fix it - you won't change the world - then the little things you do accomplish will mean something, and you won't loose heart"

In a way i can see the wisdom of that statement - if you are coming at it from the perspective that there is no ultimate hope - no victory of "good" over "evil" in the end... it is just left up to us, day by day, death happens, injustice will continue, and you help where your limited selves can help and be happy with it.
but there IS a different end to the story, if what Jesus said is true- there will be a victory of good - of holiness - of righteousness. And our 'small' efforts now are a part of bringing that about. No, I cannot hold this world together - not on my own, or with the best team of people possible - but whatever I do "for the least of these" is another piece of the new order of things

so with that, i don't have to be worried about running around to all the cracks I see - I can trust that where I am, I will do my best to patch - and who knows where that will lead - maybe a changed world.

another beginning in the midst

Boston - a city of history, tourists, commerce, students, the Irish, the Italians, the rest of the World, snowy winters, parks, buses, traffic, tunnels, the Red Sox, the homeless, the broken, the hungry, the poor, the abused, the oppressed, the enslaved ... will it be a city of the loving? the caring? the healing? the peacemaker? the giver of food and clothes, but more than just that? will it be a city, can it be a city, where those who claim to follow Jesus really do? start to live the way he lived, and share his love in ways unmistakably greater than anything human!?

Come on brothers and sisters - lets open our eyes, to our own brokenness and our need for grace - and in humility turn to those around us who also are broken and love - really LOVE them.

I embark on a new chapter of adventure - living here in Boston, beginnging an internship with the International Institue of Boston - focusing on human trafficking, working at a bakery (maybe?) and volunteering with EGC and starlight ministries (with the homeless community)... living, loving, seeking beauty in the midst of darkness - I am thankful for so much - I am overwhlemed by so much - I know I cannot do this on my own, in any way that woud be truely beneficial. Where is the balance found of what to invest in fully, and what to say no to?
As I have been learning, positive self-sacrifice involves me caring for myself as well... and being strong in my authentic, real self - as a tool through wich Jesus brings about a piece of his Kingdom.
just a small piece. that is all I am.
James 4:13-17