Posts Tagged: "kindness"

kahal from iran

Lent Day 16… Meeting Kahal From Iran In MacArthur Park Was Perhaps What Churchy People Call A Divine Appointment

- - Life With God, Uncategorized

Don’t forget to show hospitality to strangers, for some who have done this have entertained angels without realizing it! —Hebrews. 13.2

Yesterday our team went with the L.A. Dream Center to MacArthur Park to hand out bags of food. I’ve been to this park before…

In fact, I wrote a little something about my experience there back in 2011—in a post entitled “Get Over Yourself. And Cooties.” Haha. Funny title. Here’s what it said:

I’ve had a number of experiences that helped push me to get over myself…

Like serving hot meals to people living on Skid Row in Los Angeles.

Like holding AIDS babies in a government hospital in Swaziland.

Like praying for a couple of prostitutes in drug-infested MacArthur Park—immediately after saying “amen,” one of the prostitutes put her arms around me and gave me a big hug.

In circumstances like these, I had to decide what’s more important—my comfort or real compassion.

To be honest, my brain offers me some less-than-compassionate thoughts like… Read More

the other side post

Lent Day 15… I Never Thought I’d Be On The Other Side

- - Life With God, Uncategorized

One of the things we’ve been doing each day with the L.A. Dream Center is what they call “Food Truck Ministry.” You might be thinking of food trucks – like those delicious distributors of various types of food in busy downtown street corners during lunch time… but this is a little different.

The food is fresh produce, rice, beans, bottled juice, and maybe even a snack item or two. We load the food into the trucks, then head out to a poor district in town to distribute the food.

People depend on this food. Most of the folks who come and stand in line to receive the food are moms and grandmothers. They are the ones doing whatever they can to put food on the table, good food in the bellies of their children.

The other day we were in South Central L.A. distributing food. I was standing next to Roberta – one of the members of our team – when she leaned over and whispered to me… Read More

the final word is love post

The Final Word Is Love

- - Life With God, Uncategorized

*pictured above: my friend Reggie who was over-the-moon happy to come help get the church ready for our Sunday services.

Some powerful thoughts from Dorothy Day…

The final word is love.

The older I get, the more I meet people, the more convinced I am that we must only work on ourselves, to grow in grace.

The only thing we can do about people is to love them.

I only love God as much as I love the person I love the least.

We cannot love God unless we… Read More

a different kind of success

A Different Kind Of Success

- - Life With God, Uncategorized

picture above: Ashah, myself, and my dad – with my grandmother who has dementia.

From Jean Vanier…

A leader of one of our communities told me about his mother who suffers from Alzheimer’s disease. But the person this man wanted to talk to me about was not his mother but his father. He had been a strong, efficient, hard working man, more concerned with success than with people. But when his wife fell ill, he did not want to put her in hospital. He kept her at home and it was he who cared for her. It was he who helped her to eat and who brushed her teeth.

“And now,” the man told me, “my father is completely transformed. He has become a man of… Read More

gods dream post

Do You Know What God Dreams About?

- - Life With God, Uncategorized

*this post comes from Archbishop Desmond Tutu’s children’s book God’s Dream

 

Dear child of God, what do you dream about in your loveliest of dreams? Do you dream about flying high or rainbows reaching across the sky?

Do you dream about being free to do what your heart desires? Or about being treated like a full person no matter how young you might be?

Do you know what God dreams about? If you close your eyes and look with your heart, I am sure, dear child, that you will find out.

God dreams about… Read More

PRAISING KINDNESS post

Thinking About What We Praise Our Kids The Most For

- - Life With God, Uncategorized, Video

The picture above shows London Hagebusch carrying a heavy bag of groceries. Just behind her is Haven Wheeler. And a number of other children were there too…

They were helping at our Thanksgiving Grocery Give Stuffing Party – it’s the event the day before the event. We ask people to come set everything up for the big day. The Stuffing Party was noticeably, beautifully diverse – people of all ages and races and socio-economic backgrounds serving together. Perhaps most striking, though, was the image of young children throwing themselves into the task. I mean, they were actually sweating. And they were having a blast.

I’m not sure if we made a big enough of a deal about it.

I think it probably got mentioned a few times – like in church during our “main” services. But I wonder if we made a big enough of a deal about it with the kids.

Please take a minute to watch this… Read More

confusing anger with kindness post

Confusing Anger With Kindness

- - Life With God, Uncategorized, Video

I read this poem by Rupi Kaur that spoke to me as a man, a father of a daughter, and a pastor.

*     *     *     *

to fathers with daughters

every time you

tell your daughter

you yell at her

out of love

you teach her to confuse

anger with kindness

which seems like a good idea

till she grows up to

trust men who hurt her

cause they look so much

like you

*     *     *     *

I am thankful for this poem.

It reminds me that… Read More

airport

This is the World I Want to Live in.

- - Life With God, Uncategorized

My friend Jackie Frazier shared this beautiful story with me, so now of course I want to share it with you. It’s entitled “Gate A-4″ by Naomi Shihab Nye – the poet, songwriter, and novelist – born to a Palestinian father and an American mother… she calls herself “a wandering poet.”

Wandering around the Albuquerque Airport Terminal, after learning my flight had been delayed four hours, I heard an announcement:

“If anyone in the vicinity of Gate A-4 understands any Arabic, please come to the gate immediately.”

Well— one pauses these days. Gate A-4 was my own gate. I went there.

An older woman in full traditional Palestinian embroidered dress, just like my grandma wore, was crumpled to the floor, wailing.

“Help,” said the flight agent. “Talk to her . What is her problem? We told her… Read More