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| Erin, center, with the 2011 DOOR Staff |
Zora Neale Hurston wrote, "Love makes your soul crawl out from its hiding place."
I think that is a beautiful sentiment that fitfully encompasses the time I had and the moments I witnessed while working at DOOR.
It was during DOOR that I saw beautiful people flourish, amid both living out actions and sharing their stories of struggles-- with homelessness, gangs, past struggles, sins, and lifestyles-- either on the Homeless Panel, as missionaries, or as part of our camp/missionary Discern staff. This kind of openness and accepting community was a beautiful thing to see, and exactly what I--and others--needed this summer.
This open love and community was shown everywhere from Skid Row to inside the church sanctuary; from Union Rescue Mission food lines to La Casa de la Comunidad’s garden. It was expressed through storytelling, through serving food (and sorting food, for hours), and through hugs. The joy and friendship was displayed through crazy photographs, through hands and hearts lifted in worship, through playing with local children, to sharing burdens of the soul and mind.
And as I saw friendships grow, dignity re-aligned with the soul, wounds of the heart and body healed, and compassion winning over judgment and apathy--I saw the face of God in this city, in these people, in these hearts. It was a taste of the banquet we will have in His Kingdom one day, a bit of the friendship His Spirit brought to us here in our earthly city, and it was a wonderful fun time.
-Erin was part of the Discern Hollywood team this past summer, guiding our Discover teams throughout the summer. Erin will be joining the Dwell team at DOOR Chicago in September as a Young Adult Volunteer.
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