He Made a Difference

My friend Louise Gallagher (she who camps out on building rooftops in winter in Canada to raise money for the homeless) has been managing a blog called A Year of Making a Difference, where she and guest writers talk about people and events that made a difference in their lives. Today, I have a guest post there, about the man who I credit for  inspiring me to be the speechwriter I became.

Take a look, and let me know what you think.

Update on "Dancing Priest"

Dancing Priest is now available for Nook at Barnes and Noble, in addition to Kindle at Amazon.

And the book has its first blog review. Louise Gallagher, over at Recover Your Joy, must have read it almost straight through the night. She posted her review this morning. Part of what she said was this: "I had to read the whole thing. I couldn't stop. The story kept pulling me on. In. Into the lives of two people whose journeys intersected, separated, intersected, separated. And no. I'm not going to tell you which direction they ended up in. You'll have to read it all for yourself."

It's a wonderful review. Of course, I'm biased. But still, it's wonderful.

Loving Strangers - Online

We associate hospitality with opening one’s home to others, being a thoughtful and generous host or hostess, a welcoming personality that puts people immediately at ease and makes them feel comfortable. And hospitality is all of that, of course, and more.

What I find fascinating is that there are exactly four references to the word we translate as “hospitality” in the Bible, although similar ideas and concepts are implied in many other places. Two of the four direct references are included in St. Paul’s list of qualifications for elder (1 Timothy 3:2 and Titus 1:8). A third reference is found in his letter to the Romans (12:13), where he gives a rather direct command: “Practice hospitality.” The fourth reference is St. Peter’s words (1 Peter 4:9), where he says to “offer hospitality to one another without grumbling.”

The literal translation of the Greek word used in these references is “love of strangers.” We are to be hospitable to each other, but we are also to “love strangers.” And because Paul knew the failings of the ordinary human, he made it a command: practice hospitality. What he’s saying here is that it doesn’t come naturally: we have to practice hospitality, and keep at it.

Some people are naturals at this. Some aren’t. I’m not. My worst nightmare is to throw me into a cocktail reception where I don’t know the first soul in the room. I’m always in awe of people who seem naturally able to work a room, talking with total strangers, and making people feel at ease.

What I’ve found, however, is that the internet can level the playing field.

Perhaps it’s because it’s not an official or physical “face-to-face” meeting, or possibly the “risks” are reduced, or you can always x-out and sign off. I don’t know the exact reason, but I’ve seen this on others as well. I’ve also seen the extremes; some people will and do say anything online, things they wouldn’t dream of saying in a face-to-face conversation.

I see hospitality practiced all the time on line.

Charity Singleton, for example. She blogs at Wide Open Spaces, and once a week she visits someone else’s blog and writes about on her blog.

Louise Gallagher, who blogs at Recover Your Joy, is another “practitioner” of hospitality. She will go out online, get inspired and write a blog post about what she’s found.

Jason Bourne blogs at Jason’s Spinal Bifida Journey, and I don’t think I’ve met anyone as enthusiastic about people and life as Jason.

Chris Goforth sends a good morning tweet on Twitter every morning. He blogs at Goforth’s Journal.

Friendliness, enthusiasm and encouragement ooze from Megan Willome. She blogs at Sabbath Says.

J of India blogs at Neither Use Nor Ornament. He lived most of his childhood and working live in England, and then retired to India, where he takes wonderful photos and posts them on his blog. We’ve had a few email conversations, and all I can say is, someone who places a quote by G.K. Chesterton at the top of his blog is OK by me.

There are many more people I could cite. But the six listed here practice hospitality every day. They make strangers to their blogs feel welcome. They leave encouraging comments. My life is richer because of them.

Over at Faith Barista, Bonnie Gray is hosting a weekly blog carnival. This week, the topic is “the gift of hospitality.” To see more posts on the topic, please visit Faith Barista. Bonnie’s an experienced practitioner of hospitality herself.

Illustration: Christ in the Breadline (1950) by Fritz Eichenberg.

The Calgary DI's "Where"

What you notice first are the faces.

The faces are young and old, male and female, of all races. They are smiling, thoughtful, angry, discouraged, exuberant, sad, excited, laughing, concerned.

In other words, they’re normal. And that’s what catches your attention.

Then you read their stories, and you realize the faces are normal because the people are normal.

The people are us.

The Calgary Drop In and Rehab Centre, simply known as “TheDI,” has produced a book called Where: 50 Words, 50 Photos, 50 Stories, to recognize 50 years of serving the Calgary community. The DI provides a place for the homeless, but to call people “homeless” misses the point entirely and turns real individuals, with histories, personalities, hopes and dreams, into objects. They are not objects. They are people.

Like the rest of us.

Where is a masterful compilation of photographs, stories, poems, log entries about life at The DI. You meet both staff and clients. You learn about The DI’s history, and how it started as a conversation between a rabbi and a priest. Now, in one 48-hour time period, the DI housed 2,200 clients and served more than 5,000 meals and snacks. It has a medical department. It deals with a variety of people at all stages of their lives. It networks with police, mental health agencies, city government and volunteer organizations.

And it blesses people – those who are helped and those who help. It’s a toss-up as to who receives the greater blessing.

Each entry in the book is built around one word, like thrive, healing, lost, enjoyment and laughter. Each entry has a text and a photograph, and a log entry or short factual statement like “the DI spends $50,000 on coffee every year. It’s worth it.” The combination of these structural elements is powerful, moving and convicting.

Some of the texts are written by staff and volunteers and some by the clients themselves. Surprised that a homeless person can write? Don’t be. They can paint, sing, tell jokes, do computer work, organize, coordinate, fix broken stuff, read great novels, debate philosophies and politics, think, invent, create and manage. They’re just like us because they are us. In Where, that reality comes across again and again.

Tragedy and heartbreak happen at the DI, but so do comedy and happy endings. A story about a man who lost his home and his daughter was filmed and posted on the DI web site. He had not seen her since was 3. Now 30 and with children of her own, she finds the video. And her father.

Then there’s the story of Terry Pettigrew. I first started reading about terry on Louise Gallagher’s blog, Recover Your Joy. Terry was in his 50s and dying of cancer. He hadn’t seen his brother since he was 8. You can watch a video about Terry here, and read the story in Maclean’s Magazine here.

Louise is the communicators director for The DI and the editor of Where, with Jordan Hamilton serving as co-editor. Both contributed several of the articles. The photographs were taken by Christian Plus Nathan, a photography company (and couple) in Calgary. The staff and clients of The DI are the stories.

And while Where is a book about people in Calgary, Alberta, it is a book about people anywhere.

Related:

A video of the book launch for Where is on YouTube.

More information about the book can be found here.

The Versatile Blogger

I got caught in a pincers movement. And it's actually kind of nice.

Twice on Sunday, I got listed for a "Versatile Blogger" Award, once by Diane Bainbridge at Contemporary Photography and once by Louise Gallagher at Recover Your Joy. The award is actually for whatever reason the giver designates -- and both Diane and Louise were more than generous in designating me. So, in turn, I am designating others (up to 15 at a time is allowed) and also doing the optional "seven things you may not know about me."

Thank you, Louise and Diane. You have been more than kind.

Here are my designees (and I've omitted some because Louise, Diane and Maureen Doallas have designated a number of bloggers I would have):

Duane Scott at Scribing the Journey. Duane is a young man wiser than his years and a heart for God.

Michael Perkins at Untitled. I read Michael's posts each day, and I come away encouraged. What a great heart he has.

Scott Couchenour at Serving Strong. Scott has a calling -- to serve ministry leaders.

David Rupert at Red-Letter Believers. David is one of my favorite bloggers on work.

Ann Voskamp at A Holy Experience. One of the best bloggers online.

Marcus Goodyear at Good Word Editing. He writes poetry, he's a great writer, he's a great editor, and he battles zombies. What else can be said?

Justinian at Delight and Glory and Oddity and Light. I love the poetry this man writes.

Pete Marshall at, well, Pete Marshall. A poet with a truly human heart and a vulnerable soul. I was introduced to Pete's poetry by Lesley Moon at Moondustwriter. Lesley is a poet with one of the most generous hearts you can find.

Karen Eck at Karenee Art. A poet, an artist and a thinker.

L.L. Barkat at Seedlings in Stone. A poet, a writer and a friend. She's currently very busy not writing a book.

Kathy Richards, the incomparable Katdish.She writes unbelievably funny, unbelievably irreverent posts. And yet my favorites tend to be her serious ones -- this is a woman with a serious heart for God, and she knows how to laugh..

Kelly Sauer. Her writing and photography define the words "transparent" and "vulnerable."

Susan Etole at Just...a Moment. Susan combines beautiful photos with a few words that are absolute perfection every time.

Jay Cookingham at Soulfari. Jay has a heart for dads. And kids. And wives and moms. I love his blog.

That's 15. I have 15 more. Since I got this twice, I think I should get 30. I'll assemble the other 15 and post it soon.

And now the optional part of the Versatile Blogger Award.

Seven things you might not know about me.

(1) The summer between high graduation and the start of college, three friends and I drove to Cape Kennedy (or Cape Canaveral or whatever it's called these days) for the launch of Apollo 11 to the moon. We joined one million other people from all over the world.

(2) I collect stamps -- U.S. and Canada.

(3) I started biking some three weeks before I turned 53. My first ride was three blocks, and I collapsed. My longest ride in one day (August 2009) is 93 miles. And I didn't collapse.

(4) My heritage is English, Irish, French and German. Or one half Redneck and one half Coonass.

(5) My youngest son (22) and I saw all three of the Lord of the Rings movies together three times each -- at the movie theater. We also bought the DVDs as soon as they were released, and the extended edition DVD set. Yes, I'm a Ringhead.

(6) For six years, I wrote speeches for a CEO named by Fortune Magazine as one of America's seven toughest bosses. Fortune did not lie.

(7) I was president of my fraternity in college.