Family Visit and Thoughts

In less that 24 hrs my family will be joining us for just over a week. I am so excited to see them and I am pretty sure they are excited to see me too. January to September was the longest I have ever gone without seeing my family. I can't wait to share the mission with them, to share something so important to me with the people most important to me. I can't wait for them to see the people, the joy, the community, the beauty of Honduras.

This last week was quite busy. Mostly I was getting things together for the trip. But in the car I was reading a book about a priest working in a slum in Jamaica. The way he started the book really struck me and I think it's true.

In the beginning, I did this work because I had to. It was a matter of conscience. God requires much from His followers...I hated the nakedness, the hunger, the ugliness, the anger, the weeping. But I went among the poor because Christ commanded it...Christ wanted me to be with the poor not to change the world of the poor materially, but to be among them and to find Christ's beauty among them. Yes, there are clothes, water food, shelter, money that we give. We give all that we can...But most importantly, it is the beauty we discover among the poor, the presence of Christ that holds us there. Love meaning being with those whom we love. Just as God loved us by being with us in the flesh of His son, we find Christ by being with the poor in whom He dwells.

It is presence. The deepest human longing is for love, dignity, to be valued. Even if one cannot change the larger picture and the complex systems at the root of poverty, one can accompany, listen, and value a fellow brother or sister. If I am powerless to change someone's future, I hope I can give them hope in the present. Especially tomorrow when the world prays for peace, let us treat one another with the dignity we give to Christ, because He is in each heart.