Spirit On The Margins

 

Today I had the privilege of speaking at the adult education hour at Spirit of Hope UMC in Golden Valley, Minnesota. The talk was entitled, “What the Poor Can Do For Us”.

Spirit of Hope UMC

I talked about the role spirituality plays in giving meaning to our pain and suffering, whether we are rich or poor. We reviewed select City House outcome data that shows there is some connection between spirituality and changed social behavior.

Select City House outcomes data

Then we talked about how we can open ourselves to and be changed by those on the margins of our world. To emphasize the point, I played short video clips from the movie Dances With Wolves, starring Kevin Costner.

Dances With Wolves Synopsis

We also reviewed the 4 stages of spiritual growth that one goes through in working with the poor as postulated by Albert Nolan, a Dominican South African theologian.

Stages of Spiritual Growth in Working With the Poor

Then, Ulysses Snell, a City House program participant told his story and the importance of God and his spiritualty in his life. 

Ulysses contended that people think race is the issue, but that in his mind it is really about class differences - the “haves” and the “have nots” - that separate us. He said, “People think that people like me are only about wanting money, but it’s about just being with me, understanding me, and loving me for who I am - that’s what I want.” When Ulysses talked about his deceased mother, he began to tear up and had to stop.

Those in attendance were very respectful, warm, and welcoming. Several people afterwards went out of their way to thank Ulysses for sharing his story. We both felt quite welcomed.

After worshiping with the congregation, Ulysses and I went to lunch. I asked him for feedback about what I had said. He said, “To be honest with you Tom, I was falling asleep while you talked. I really didn’t know what you were trying to say about Dances With Wolves. You were showing them a story about Native Americans…? Whatever…I just decided to go with the flow.” Hmmm…another lesson in humility.

As I reflect on the morning, I feel so graced to have a friend like Ulysses. We just like spending time together.

This entry was posted on Sunday, November 18th, 2007 at 5:22 pm and is filed under Congregations, Research, Transformed by the poor. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.