Healing Through Our Shared Brokenness
We held our annual City House celebration for all of our constituents on Thursday night. It was an opportunity to celebrate what our City House community has done together this past year and what God is doing through us - with our volunteers, program participants, social service agency partners, “Will You Drink From This Cup?” program learners and participants, board members, donors, and friends.
We started out by remembering that our theme for last year’s celebration was “The Most Dangerous Prayer Of All? Yes” based on a poem, “Dangerous Prayers”, by Regina Sara Ryan. The essence of the poem invites us to live dangerously by inviting God to do whatever it is that God wants to do in our lives. It was a year ago, that we acknowledged at City House our need for a year of discernment - a year in which we prayed and listened openly and honestly about where God would have us go.
As a consequence, we ended up saying “yes” to some significant commitments that have taken us in new directions. City House test piloted an outcomes measurement system with the support of the Otto Bremer Foundation, that will now allow us to observe what God is up to in our core volunteer program of providing spiritual companionship for and with the poor.
We conducted our first inner city pilgrimmage in partnership with Christos Center for Spiritual Formation. That retreat opened our eyes to the possiblity of a mission expansion - that we had as much to offer the mainstream world as we did the persons who find themselves on the margins of society. It led us to moving from a mission of “tending to the spiritual lives of the poor, inspring hope” to a mission of ”connecting the mainstream and margins for mutual spiritual growth and transformation.”
That shift in mission in turn led us to the development of the “Will You Drink From This Cup?” pilot program, just completed - where mainstream learners entered into relationships with “friends” on the margins of society so that both parties might grow spiritually.
We followed this celebration of the year in review in which we said “yes”, by reflecting on our shared poverty of spirit, whether mainstream or societally marginalized. We read and reflected on the Macrina Wiederkehr poem, “Blessed are the Poor in Spirit”, as a way to best express that sentiment. Marcina Wiederkehr web site
Small groups then reflected on and shared personal stories around the following questions:
Question: Describe a time in your life when you were full of a false idea(s), and then came to discover the truth. What happened?
Question: Describe a time in your life when you felt small, powerless, and needy. How, if at all, did that time open your heart? How, if at all, did it become a time of blessing?
Question: Describe a time in your life when you were forced to let go of your plans and your timing and had to wait on God. What happened?
Question: Describe a time in your life when you finally realized that you needed to rely on God and you felt good about it. What happened?
“Will You Drink This Cup?” program learner, Angelie Ryah- Dahn then shared her story about her friendship with a woman from Central Avenue Apartments. Then, one of the participants from Reentry Metro, VJ, shared her story about being a friend to one of the program learners. She was unable to be present for the celebration, and so, her thoughts were read to us from something she had written up.
“I was very grateful to be accepted as I am. The caring spirit and kindful heart of her friendship to understand me was a blessing. What was a touching experience was when we both connected and were able to grow with each other. During our meetings in small steps we supported each other in healing through our brokenness.”
“Everytime you shed a tear, you are healing your own soul. In every tear drop, there is a rainbow, whch is a promise from God. I am committed to share my life with anyone who wants to talk about it. The bad and good. I do this in honor and memory of my brother Jr. Thank you City House!! (Thank you VJ!!!)”
Finally, we asked program participants to come forward and personally bless each of our volunteer spiritual companions for their gift of listening on the margins of society. Jim Dodge, our founder, closed with prayer. Once again, the sense of community among this diverse group of people was palpable. I am grateful to be a part of it.
