Her elderly face bore the marks of a tough life. She was doing her job, standing in the mall
food court handing out Bourbon Chicken samples to passersby. She would have looked much more at home on
the streets of China. I even imagined
her following her entrepreneur children to America to live with them and work
with them in their business. Her
expression was one of silent resignation.
She was there in body, but not in spirit.
The next moment her air shifted dramatically, from boredom
to engagement. Her “inner
light” came on. She was trying to catch
someone’s eye in the crowd. She was
virtually reaching out with her body language, trying to make a
connection. Then I saw the subject of
her gaze – a young mother, also of Asian descent, with her toddler. I could see the elderly woman’s desire to speak
a kindness, to reassure the younger woman that she knew all about her current
life stage and share some motherly wisdom.
She made two or three almost desperate attempts to make eye contact to
no avail. The young mother, absorbed in
trailing her toddler, never even knew she was there. She passed back into the crowd as the older
woman’s light faded back to gray.
Our need for human connection is universal, even among
strangers. We all share an underlying
need to be known and to be safe. In
public it appears as the involuntary expression on another’s face that you have
undoubtedly seen as I have, the one that silently says, “Tell me I am
alright.” Among our friends and family the
words can seem very casual (“Wanna grab cup of coffee some time?”, “Play with
me”, “How was your day?”, or “What’s up dude?”) but the need for a true
connection is the same. These moments
are fleeting and fragile. Unless we are
paying attention, we will miss most of them.
What might it look like if we took the time to really see the stranger, to
listen below the words of our loved ones, to have the love and patience to
always communicate grace and safety by our words and actions?
Throughout this journey, Julie and I have been blessed to build
relationships with some amazing people who are all unique, but share one thing
in common: they each have a history of incarceration. Some are struggling through the challenges of
reentry. Others are still incarcerated,
looking with hope toward the day they get their chance to walk free again. Throughout February, we would like to
introduce you to some of these men. Please
like our Facebook page here to follow their stories, connect with them, and learn about the challenges they
have faced or will face in reentering society after incarceration.
Peace,
art
Peace,
art
Monthly Donation
Drive
We need supporters to donate $10 per
month. WAIT—STAY WITH US! No guilt here about lattes, lunches, or
cutbacks you need to make. We know
you’re a hardworking, law-abiding, tax-paying citizen. We trust you would run into the burning
building to save a child. You help old
ladies across the street and save kittens from trees. You are a good, responsible person. All we’re asking for is the money you saved
for that speeding ticket you didn’t get or the library fines you avoided. It’s easy to donate and tax deductible. Click here to set
up your monthly donation today.
It’s (Nearly)
Official
We have begun the 501c3 non-profit application process. We remain under Perception Funding which is a local organization that helps launch other
ministries. Well it’s time to take the
training wheels off and go it on our own.
Becoming our own 501c3 will give us access to a broader range of
foundation and public grants. It also
communicates clearly that we are here to stay and invested in long-term
sustainability. If all goes as planned,
we should have our 501c3 status by mid- to late-summer. In the meantime your donation is still tax
deductible.
