Everybody Dies, but Not Everyone Lives, by Josh

Since I came to Los Angeles I have spent a lot of time on the weekends playing Ultimate Frisbee in a park high up on a mountain under the famous Hollywood Sign. This has been a great catharsis for me to release all of my energy and work out any anger I have from the previous week. Through this activity I have also gained a lot of good friends, many of who I hang out with even off of the field. Some have even asked to come to church with me. I have also had the pleasure to have several of my roommates and old friends come to play with us. 


[A few weeks ago], I went to the field expecting the usual Saturday game. Upon arriving, I was informed that one of our friends had passed away. This information really blew me away. Our friend Tom was only 24 years old. I found out that cancer was discovered in his body less than a month ago, and now he is dead. I realize that people all over the world die every day from many different causes, but it still makes you stop to contemplate life when it happens to someone you know. A lady from First Pres. Church of Hollywood died this week in a house fire. You never really know when it could happen to you. 

Think about what you did last year, last week, yesterday, this morning. Would you change what you did if you knew that it was your last day on this earthly plane?  This reminds me of some song lyrics that I wrote last year:

If you were given a warning 

that you’ll die in the morning,

what would you do with tonight?

Would you throw a big bash?

Would you blow all your cash?

Would you try to set things right?

If you were told by a friend

That tomorrow’s the end

What would you do with today?

Would you release all your fears

After all of these years,

Or would you simply run away?

If you are not happy with your day to day life, change what you are doing. Pretend that you knew that you would die tomorrow.  How would you spend your last day? Would you want to talk with your family or friends? Would you rather spend your last living hours watching television? What is the point of not enjoying life? Many people say that they are not happy with what they are doing, but that it will all be worth it for the payoff in the end. Do the ends justify the means? Sure, you can plan for the future, but at what date in the future does the happiness begin? Lately, there have been many billboards put up around Los Angeles that proclaim that May 21, 2011 is the end of the world. This may or may not be true. I personally don’t believe it to be true, but it could be the last day for any of us. We might as well live as if it is. 

I’ll finish this blog with the story of Tom’s memorial.   A few of Tom’s closest friends organized an ultimate Frisbee extravaganza memorial. After church I got a ride to the North Hollywood Park to find games in full swing. Tom’s friends were grilling, having some drinks, laughing, and making new friends. It was estimated that over 70 people showed up throughout the day,and this wasn’t even planned until [a few days before]. It was a great day of enjoying life.  They had a box of some of Tom’s things, like dvds, books, and posters, that they wanted people to go through and take, to enjoy and think of Tom while they do. Overall it was just a great celebration of his life. I’m sure Tom would have had an incredible time if he were there. At the end of the night somebody said that we should have gatherings like this more often. I thought that the comment was very true. It shouldn’t take somebody dying, for the rest of us to really live.

An Idea

You pass it off as a small thing, but it's anything but that. 

Yeast, too, is a "small thing," but it works its way 

through a whole batch of bread dough pretty fast. 

So get rid of this "yeast." - 1 Corinthians 5:6, The Message

Last Wednesday, two speakers from Homeboy Industries visited La Casa de la Comunidad.  These men shared their lives, both past and present, and how the compassion of Homeboy helped them to step away from the patterns of gang life in East Los Angeles.  At one point in the presentation, a very poignant line from Father Gregory Boyle's book, Tattoos on the Heart, was referenced: 

New Friends from Homeboy Industries meet our neighborhood.

"The wrong idea has taken root in the world. And the idea is this: there just might be lives out there that matter less than other lives."  


Indeed.  It's not only taken root, it's produced poisonous fruit.  It's infested our daily bread.  This idea allows us to walk around dirty homeless folks sleeping outside a 7-eleven with no more than a "what-a-lazy-wretch" sneer across our face.  This idea is the seed of the notion, "this side of the tracks, that side of the tracks."  This is the idea that allows slavery, inhumane treatment of prisoners, allows us to look at people as problems, issues, statistics in a world population explosion, and not, as we all were intended to be seen: as the image of God.

One of the Homeboys spoke quite eloquently about the internal damage an idea like this causes.  He said that he had no problem with people calling him a monster, a f*!&-up, a no-good menace to society.  He believed himself to be all those things.  But call him worthy of kindness, call him useful and helpful, call him beautiful even, well, his entire body rejected it, like an allergic reaction.  He said, at first, he would become so angry with a compliment that he would retaliate and work to regain the more comfortable status of being a "low-life."    The idea manifested in our sense of self, maintaining the lie that we can lose God's affection and can't hope of winning it back.  Or, more to the truth, can't believe that we never lost it in the first place.

Dwellers, Neighbors, and friends from Oasis came out.

What if being a "Christian" was, at the very core, simply about waging war with this idea?   I looked around that evening at all the faces listening, together, in kinship.  From different backgrounds, sure, but a gathering of people responding to the gritty truth of God's desire for restoration, as poured through these two former gang members.

I've been following the blog of an incoming Dweller, Ben Adam, who will arrive this fall.  This quote is part of a larger work of his on the politics of the Resurrection, but I found myself feeling the resonance of it during the Homeboys' talk: "The Jesus movement, unlike Marxism or the Cuban Revolution, did not seek to make a poor person into a rich monarch. It was a movement that believed G-d was bringing down the powerful and raising up the powerless so that they could meet in the middle as equals."  Meeting in the middle.  It's the heart of what we're attempting here in Hollywood.   God-willing, bridges of understanding, equality, and a kinship that only God could create, can continue to be built and nurtured.

I turned and looked at our current Dwellers.  I thought about some of the ideas they are starting to share, starting to blog about.  I'll leave you to ponder them, and I pray you are blessed in the thinking:

"God has called us to be present: to love His people as much as we possibly can, despite who they are or where they come from." - Alex

"I think that we all feel deficient, not just when standing in front of God but in many of our relationships, and that we all spend far too much time working to hide these deficiencies instead of handing them completely over to the One." - Robert

"Whether or not he stays does not detract from the fact that we cared enough to keep visiting him, find him help when he asked, and will continue to work with him, no matter the outcome of rehab.  He knows we care about him." - Alayna

"I started thinking about how many people are truly involved in this process of volunteerism.  This is not a one-man show.  If I had to list everyone involved in the process, I know that it would take up pages in very small font."  - Josh

"It's also hard for me to see what good a system is if it can only help some, but not all.  I even get angry that people have to be homeless or that there's such a thing as homelessness." - Brady

"Help [homeless people] feel not invisible as they have been walked [over] by so many people ignoring them.  We are all the same in Christ." - Kyle

May God meet you in your middle today.  Thanks for reading.  - Matthew

"He knocked tyrants off their high horses, pulled victims out of the mud."
- Luke 1:52, The Message

From Kenya to Hollywood, by Josh

Six months ago, [during my year in Kenya], it was a 45 minute walk to the nearest town; now I can get to five different pawn shops in less than a ten minute walk. Six months ago I was watching bootleg screener movies that I could buy for twenty cents a pop; now I live a stone's throw from where some of these same ones were filmed. Six months ago the toughest food decision was, what can we cook with tomato and onion sauce; now its which of the 500 grocery stores or fast-food chains do I want to buy from. Six months ago I could go outside and hear only the birds and wind; today I fall asleep to the lullabies of ghetto birds(police helicopters) and angry Chihuahuas. Six months ago I lived in a land where a person would give one of his last dollars to another in need; today I live in a county that has upwards of 80,000 persons without a constant roof under which to sleep. (As well as over 262,000 millionaires.) Six months ago I knew high school students who said that they would die to live in the America; today I live in a city where they do. I felt like Kenya was a land of optimists. Things may be bad now, but we have it better than some, and tomorrow will be better. If you focused on the hardships, you would drown in the questions of "Why us?" Today I feel like I live in a land of entitlement. "I deserve this even though I have done nothing to deserve it." "I have so many resources available to me, but I will ignore them and complain about how I deserve a better life." In short; much of the world has little and can make the most of it, yet another portion of humanity has much and turns it into so little. This culture shift has really been playing with my mind lately.

"Hide it under a bushel, No!" or, Blogging Commences

Here's another way to put it: You're here to be light, bringing out the God-colors in the world. God is not a secret to be kept. We're going public with this, as public as a city on a hill. If I make you light-bearers, you don't think I'm going to hide you under a bucket, do you? I'm putting you on a light stand. Now that I've put you there on a hilltop, on a light stand—shine!- Matthew 5:14-16, The Message

I feel like its going to be a great year (of course I feel that way about every year though.) I am living in a house with five other similar minded young adult volunteers. Our house is located next to Paramount Studios, just a few minutes walk from Hollywood and Vine. It is all quite exciting but also quite whelming. I'm not overwhelmed yet, but I think parts of my brain are. We have gone to the beach once; walked to Grauman's Chinese theater on the walk of fame; prepared meals for a massive operation that gives 1600 meals to people with terminal illnesses every day; and stumbled into a free big name band concert in a music store where we just wanted to buy a CD. - From Josh's blog, Adventurer Friend

I will be working 32 hours a week as a case worker with Alegria. Alegria is a ministry in Hollywood that serves families who were previously homeless and have at least one family member affected by HIV or AIDS. The ministry provides these families with transitional housing, health care, and works to equip these families in the transition back to housed society. 16 families are currently housed in our facilities. I am excited and also intimidated by the work expected of me at the agency. Please keep this ministry in your prayers. - From Alex's blog, Changes

After dinner, Mrs. Kerr asked us to read a part of the chapter in Romans. It was about serving God. Mrs. Kerr asked us what we think about it and what do we accept the hardest will be for us? Each of us told our part. I told the Kerr family that I hope I become closer to God each day and stay on his path and understand his ways, not mine. Then I was trying to tell her the verse of Proverbs 3: 5-6. I didn't even give her a clue and she just said, "Trust in the LORD with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths." Then I said yes, that is it. - From Kyle's blog, You Will Never Go Where God is Not

We have also begun meeting the kids in the neighborhood as they walk by, curious about the new people at La Casa de la Comunidad. The Community House has a longstanding reputation in the neighborhood as a safe place for the neighborhood kids to come for tutoring and fellowship. They have already been asking when the tutoring will begin again. Alex and I are both anxious to begin work in the community garden as well. I must admit all this work at the Community House is what I’m most excited for. - From Alayna's Blog, the space between

Please pray this week for my fellow YAV's as we spend this week in meditation and worship to help us focus on the journeys that lie before us. Pray for the friends and families we left behind and the new friends we'll make at our sites, and pray for the little things we can all do to make someone's day better. "Where can I go from your Spirit? Where can I flee from your presence? If I go up to the heavens, you are there; if I make my bed in the depths, you are there. If I rise on the wings of the dawn, if I settle on the far side of the sea, even there your hand will guide me, your right hand will hold me fast." -Psalm 139 v7-10. - From Robert's blog, Keepin' On

Welcome Alayna, Alex, Brady, Josh, Kyle, & Robert!

"God doesn't come and go. God lasts.
He's Creator of all you can see or imagine.
He doesn't get tired out, doesn't pause to catch his breath.
And he knows everything, inside and out.
He energizes those who get tired,
gives fresh strength to dropouts.
For even young people tire and drop out,
young folk in their prime stumble and fall.
But those who wait upon God get fresh strength.
They spread their wings and soar like eagles,
They run and don't get tired,
they walk and don't lag behind." - Isaiah 40:29-31, The Message

Tonight, when I got home from orientation activities, I found my 11-month-old daughter eating beets. In some people's minds, possibly and odd baby food, but she loves them. She studies their deep purple-red, kisses them, offers to share them with you, and delights in the purple stain on her fingers that lingers after she eats slice after slice. I marveled in how beautiful beets actually are: such a rich, deep, and pure color. And after a day filled with excitement, a little stress, and the newness of all that is initiating a new Dwell year, I saw the face of God in my baby's love for beets. And it filled my spirit.

From Indiana, Pennsylvania, South Dakota, Tennessee, and North Carolina, our six new Dwellers came together this week. It is such a swirl of newness, all the excitement of witnessing Los Angeles and Hollywood for the first time, all the intrigue of slowly getting to know the people who God has lined up as the members of an intentional community for, at least, the year. There is something so pure about it all, something so honest, human, and beautiful. And even though reality dictates that as the "rubber hits the road" and the work of the ministries begins, conflict will most certainly arise. My prayer for these six is that they can work to see those conflicts as opportunities, as chances to learn even more deeply who God is and who God can be. My prayer is that they constantly seek the courage to "wait upon God," as the Scripture urges, and that God would infuse them with energy and joy in the struggle and challenges they've been called to this year.

Won't you join me in praying for them? That God would walk alongside each of them every step of the way, and that each one of them and every neighbor they connect with while living here is richly blessed...

Please click on any photo to see more about how the year is coming together and how to connect with any Dweller personally to offer encouragement and requests to learn more about the ways God is being witnessed here on Gregory Avenue and in Hollywood!

Stepping Back to Allow

"Every part of Scripture is God-breathed and useful one way or another—showing us truth, exposing our rebellion, correcting our mistakes, training us to live God's way. Through the Word we are put together and shaped up for the tasks God has for us." -2 Timothy 3:16, The Message

For more photos from the week, click above

DOOR Hollywood, as with any DOOR City, is very busy in the summer time. We have Discover groups coming in each week, Dwellers coming to the end of a year while others are preparing to embark on theirs, and the neighborhood kids are off from school, looking for fellowship and fun at all hours of the day. It's easy to feel over-stretched, overwhelmed, and over tired!

This passage from 2 Timothy, though, calms me down. When we root ourselves in the Word, really lean up against it as a solid rock, we find that our energy levels are restored to the tasks God has put before us. And, for over-achievers like myself, we can better discern what God is NOT intending us to do by noting where our energy is not present. The beauty here is that, we can step back sometimes and allow others to take part in the action, the growth, and the joy.

LEAP365, from Eastern Mennonite University, on a tour at PATH.

So it would be that this week, fantastically energetic high school and college kids came to serve from the East Coast through a program called LEAP365. They sorted materials, met with and served the homeless, and explored Los Angeles all along the way. Wendy is taking on many of the repair and maintenance projects at the house before she leaves later this month by connecting with members of Hollywood Presbyterian, friends from the neighborhood, and other skilled folks like herself. And our incoming Dwellers: Alex, Josh, Brady, Alayna, Kyle, and Robert are beginning to connect with agencies, sending in resumes and holding phone and Skype conversations with potential supervisors for next year. All this is happening at once, by the grace of God, and when I step back and allow, rather than let my need to be over-involved prevail, I learn just how good our God is, and just how amazing it is to be a part of the body of Christ. Just a part, not a whole.

May God humble and bless you this week as well.

Matthew

Dweller Wendy allows her fix-it gifts to bless both the physical DOOR House as well as fellowship building opportunities with neighborhood kids.

Dwellers 2010-2011: from top left: Kyle, Josh, Alayna, Alex, Brady, and Robert