Wednesday, December 19, 2012

Do You Know What I Know?


Said the shepherd boy to the mighty king, “Do you know what I know? In your palace wall mighty king, do you know what I know? A child, a child shivers in the cold. Let us bring him silver and gold.”

Lately, I’ve thought about the fanfare, the trumpeting angels, the spectacular birth announcement of Jesus Christ that terrified shepherds in the night.  The Star of Bethlehem, the Angel Gabriel, all of these fantastic signs.  It only now has dawned on me, that God had to do this, what with Jesus being born in the margins and laid in a feeding trough.  How else would anyone know that the words of ancient prophets were being fulfilled?  Had he been born in an earthly palace, there would have been parades and pomps and circumstances with all the trimmings.  But, Jesus was born in the outskirts, and the heavenly and celestial birth announcement was noticed by the poor shepherd boys, out of town.
 
And, then, as this song that we hear in every shopping mall in every city every December, the news of Jesus’ birth had to also come from the bottom up, in terms of human hierarchy.  The shepherd boy asks, “do you know what I know?” to a king.  And what’s amazing, in this song anyway, is that this earthly king listens.  Listens, and spreads the word of this upside-down Kingdom.

Listening.  Do you hear what I hear?  Do you see what I see?  Do you know what I know?  Maybe 2013 we can work on listening, that we might know what others know, see what others see, know how one another live.  There is a flurry of discussions right now, rightfully so, about gun controls and safety and mental health and why, why, why?  And I’m impressed, actually, that people are talking about having real, civil, discourse.  Talking about it, anyway.  But to do this, we will have to not only spout our mouths off, but we will have to listen.  2nd Amendment die-hards need to listen, really listen, to the voices of people affected by gun tragedies.  Anti-gun folks ought to listen to histories of hunting families, especially those that do so with respect and a sense of balance.  Anglo folks, especially those who believe racism is over, ought to listen to what it means to not be white in today’s United States, from those who have to think about that day in and day out.  People adamantly against Mexican immigration ought to listen to a father doing anything he can to provide for his family, and try not to refer to him as an illegal alien.  Christians ought to listen to the ideas of Jews and Muslims, which doesn’t mean we adopt the same beliefs, but dear Lord, we should be able to listen.
 
I ought to listen to my wife, what it means to be the mother of two, more than I currently do.

Do you know what I know?  Do I know what you know?  Is there a place we can sit down and listen to one another?

Thankfully, Jesus has already set that table. 

Merry Christmas Everyone,
Matthew




Wednesday, December 5, 2012

Thoughts on Welcome, by Callie


Harvest Festival at the Community House!
For Thanksgiving our house hosted a party for the neighborhood and any friends and church people who wanted to come. We made tons of food and everyone brought goodies to share. We did a cake walk, doughnut eating competition (pictured above), and pinata! Lots of people showed up including some young folks who are involved in similar programs like DOOR around the city. We all had a wonderful time!
Getting to know the neighbors and neighborhood here around Gregory Ave. has been one of the most fulfilling and enjoyable aspects of my time here so far. From the moment I walked through the gate for the first time, our neighbors welcomed me with open arms and warm hearts. Our mission as Dwellers is to create a space of openness and hospitality for the people we live alongside. Since coming here, though, the sweet people of this neighborhood have done more to make me feel at home than I could ever do for them. I am so grateful for them and for the hard work and dedication of past Dwellers to make this place what it is and build the reputation of this house as a place of welcome.