When the Church has the freedom itself to be poor among the poor, it will know how to use what riches it has. When the Church has that freedom, it will know also how to minister among the rich and powerful. When the Church has that freedom, it will be a missionary people again in all the world. When the Church has the freedom to go out into the world with merely the Gospel to offer the world, then it will know how to use whatever else it has–money and talent and buildings and tapestries and power in politics–as sacraments of its gift of its own life to the world, as tokens of the ministry of Christ.

–William Stringfellow in A Private and Public Faith, 1962

One of the most frustrating things about what I do is that the people you develop the best relationships with are the most broken. That is just sort of the nature of the beast; after all, the more you have resources and skills, the less likely you are to remain homeless. And those who get out of being homeless (by getting solid work, moving in with family, whatever) seldom have any desire to continue any relationship that reminds them of those days they slept on the street.

So what that means is that the people least able to relate are those who I spend the most time with. And when you see someone ‘make it’, by getting a job and moving into a new, much safer place, you sorta feel a twinge of sadness because you realize that you are not going to see them as much, and eventually, probably not at all. You are excited for them, but a bit sad as well.

Sometimes, it works out. Like this morning, when I saw W– on the sidewalk downtown. We have had long talks. W– is gay, and he and his partner were on the street together almost a year. They have been together a long time and being homeless was hard on that relationship. I don’t know that I helped either of them that much… mainly it was about doing what I am best at, sitting there and doing nothing while they talk.

About two months ago, his partner got a good job, working for the county. And he got W– on, so now they both have good jobs, a good apartment and are paid ahead a month on their rent. It was strange seeing W– today (his day off) shaved and clean, wearing clean clothes. We hugged and talked a while about how it is all going. He is doing really well. I am proud of both of them, and told them so.

I invited them to come eat with us this weekend at a potluck I am participating in. I really hope they show up.

Mark lives in Hollywood. He once was a successful TV executive. After that he was homeless. Now, he is back on his feet and he films the homeless as they tell their stories. You can see the videos on his Video Blog, or you can subscribe to his updates on Twitter.

I have been working on a post about my frustration with churches that do not want to fund what we do because we are not ‘evangelizing’ enough. It is awful hard to do so and still be loving and encouraging, so this post has not yet been written. However, Larry James in Dallas has similar problems and wrote an excellent response.

“Cutting to the chase let me say this to church folks who are struggling with this very artificial distinction:

I am convinced that things of the spirit that turn out to be eternal will always begin rooted in the here and now of the pain of people whom God hears, acknowledges and cares about. The church needs to save its breath and act redemptive.”

Go read his whole post, and subscribe to his blog. Lots of good stuff there.

How does God’s love abide in anyone who has the world’s goods and sees a brother or sister in need and yet refuses help?

1 John 3:17