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—————- Indeed, the conflicts in our personal lives, as well as the conflicts on regional, national, or world scales, are our conflicts, and only by claiming responsibility for them can we move beyond them—choosing a life of forgiveness, peace, and love.” Deo Gratias! Thanks be to God!————————————————————————————————- “How can we live a truly grateful life? When we look back at all that has happened to us, we easily divide our lives into good things to be grateful for and bad things to forget. But with a past thus divided, we cannot move freely into the future. With many things to forget we can only limp toward the future. True spiritual gratitude embraces all of our past, the good as well as the bad events, the joyful as well as the sorrowful moments. From the place where we stand, everything that took place brought us to this place, and we want to remember all of it as a part of God’s guidance. That does not mean that all that happened in the past was good, but it does mean that even the bad didn’t happen outside the loving presence of God. .. .Once all of our past is remembered in gratitude, we are free to be sent into the world to proclaim good news to others.” We are all a mixture of good and bad. In remembering that we can see our lives as a journey of discovery, we find comfort in our pain, our bruises, and forgiveness for our wrongs. I am remembering so many past Thanksgiving as I write: the preparation of meals, the smell of turkey and dressing for many, the volunteers, and the passing out of the meals. Seeing the grateful faces made all the work worthwhile. Also, I am remembering the changing of Polk street, which used to be a place where young hustlers hung out, adult bookstores were on several corners, and tons of gay bars stood. Now we have gentrified. Haight Street is always changing, going from a cheap place to live to gentrification. We adjust and continue to do ministry in the midst of change. Gentrification has brought more homelessness, pain, and need. Nearly three years ago my shoulder was broken; after much struggle and rehabilitation, total use has returned with limitation. I cannot lift more than thirty pounds though, which makes preparing hot meals difficult. Therefore I will no longer do weekly meals, and instead, give out items like fruit bars. The positive is that we return totally to the heart of our ministry which is listening, being a presence, to each person we encounter. We do not have to take a couple of days to recuperate and have the energy to totally listen. We would like to thank St. Luke’s Episcopal Church for allowing us to use their kitchen twice a week for over ten years, and also allowing us to store our supplies of socks and clothes at the church. Giving us a place for storage is worth more than words can express, and their support and friendship, even more so. We hope we can continue that partnership and see where it evolves. Our first donation and volunteers came from St. Luke’s, and I will be buried there, so I give my heartfelt thanks for that support. This Thanksgiving we will hang out on Polk Street late in the evening providing snacks, socks, needles, condoms, and other supplies and simply listening. We’ll be on the Haight on Thanksgiving Day in the afternoon doing the same.—————————————————————–Volunteers: Recently we have had a number of individuals request to volunteer. We have had to respectfully decline due to the pandemic. We will not consider using volunteers until after a vaccine is fully available and it is safe. The best way to help is through financial giving. We are truly beggars, and if you would like to give and support our ministry, you may by sending donations to:Temenos Catholic WorkerP.O. Box 642656San Francisco, CA 94164www.temenos.orgorpay pal found on www.temenos.org——————————————— ![]() The Ebb and Flow of Life Ordination Anniversary RetreatSeabreeze MotelPacifica, CaliforniaOctober 30, 2020Standing on the edge of the beach looking towards the ocean one is struck by the vastness that is beyond, all goes on without end.And as one looks down at one’s feet I see the tide, ebbing and flowing in and out into that vastness. For a while I will walk this beach, experiencing its peacefulness, and experience the storms that come and go, pushing and shoving. I can see starfish being washed in, and picking them up one by one, they are cast back to life.One may ask? “Isn’t throwing the starfish back a waste of time, you can not save them all?” Our answer is “I saved one, one life, that spills into eternity.” An awesome gift and privilege. And as I move closer to the edge of the shore, and know that soon the tides will take me out into eternity, forgotten here, this saving one starfish at a time is an understanding of my response of God calling all of us to the dream of God. The dream of her people living in unity, and at peace together. The dream of all being nourished and loved by God who created us. I have found that the resurrection is the experience of knowing in whom I believe, and in risking my life, for God is with me. There are no guarantees, none whatsoever, only faith. I live in the grays of life for know institution, no bureaucracy, can in it’s black and whiteness guarantee the resurrection–it is in the risk of trusting in the One who is eternal, that I find hope, and trusting as I enter the flow of the tides which draw me into the eternity that God is with me, I have done my best, and the footprints of saving the starfish one by one will be my eternal gift to God. Soon I will be forgotten, but the ebb and flow, will continue, my footprints will bring others into the eyes of God. I have done my best, and that is enough! ——————————————————————– We are sending out Christmas Cards and if we do not have your snail mail and would like to have a Christmast Card, please send your snail mail to punkpriest1@gmail.com============================“Doing Small Things With Great Love!” Jan Johnson——————————– |