Home and Homelessness
Psalm 84
Matthew 8:20, John 14:1
Home
Deb: I am a terrible room decorator. In the design department – I am artistically challenged. I have no eye for seeing a room as it could be. Whenever I visit friends or do pastoral calls in people’s homes, I notice their artistically decorated rooms. They would have tastefully decorated living rooms, with wall paper and borders that matched their sofas and rugs. Everything somehow actually fit within a color coordinated scheme. In my college years I usually let my roommate handle the decorating, although I do have pictures of one room with a lime green and yellow, ruffled comforter with matching curtains that I believe was my fault. Later on, my good friend Kathy Socia would come to my rescue because she has the gift and ability to see colors and patterns that would make a room pleasing, comfortable and cozy. Over the years Kathy would willingly give me hints and once she patiently taught me how to stencil borders around my living room. Last year, at my daughters’ insistence we had our living room painted in a deep blue - colors they advised me on. When they were born my idea of decorating was to paint their rooms in off-white and fill their beds with stuffed animals. We had so many stuffed animals in our home, that we had to buy those small net hammocks that can be hung up on a wall and they would gently hold, yet still display, the overflow of stuffed animals. In my daughters room we had a wealth of Cabbage patch dolls, beanie babies, stuffed teddy bears, puppies and many stuffed and cuddly kittens.
Therefore the day that Donna Horvath and I walked through the men’s dormitory at the Lowell Transitional Center, my eye as well as my heart, zeroed right in on a chocolate brown and beige, smiling stuffed monkey that was propped up on a pillow by one of the homeless men. At the Lowell Transitional Center, which our concert benefited on Friday night, men and women are allowed to leave a few items by their beds when they leave for the day. And as Donna and I walked through that dorm, past rows of bunk beds, we saw shoes lined up neatly along the floor as well as a trash bags or knapsacks that held their belongings. And on one of those bunk beds, a gentleman had left his monkey, face forward and awaiting him to come home that evening.
God pulled on my heart and clearly showed me the desire within every human being – to be at home and to feel safe and at peace. But God also made crystal clear to me – the problem of homelessness.
No Longer Homeless
Shirley: Last month I slept on an air mattress on the floor of the Quaker Meeting House in Sandwich.
There was another woman with me, a friend, both of us members of First Church of Christ in Sandwich . Karen and I were there to take our turn to prepare the Meeting House for a monthly occurrence on Cape Cod - sleeping overnight with homeless women. But we are only two of many, who have taken this as one of their ministries.
There are twenty different Cape Cod Churches, which are involved in the same ministry. There are homeless men and women who have no other place to stay. They need to be sheltered – out of the cold and the woods that have become unfriendly – even dangerous. There are usually 10 to 12 men and the same number of women, each night who sign up for this program every night. Some churches take the men, and some take women.
Karin and I had arrived at the Quaker Meeting House at our usual time of 6 pm with the key to the Meeting House, our own air mattresses and pillows, and two bags of food – some snacks for the evening, usually some homemade cookies and fruit. Karen, being an avid knitter, had her bag of soft baby blue yarn and needles. Most of our provisions were for our 6:00AM breakfast so that we would be ready for the pickup cars. They arrive at 7 to take these women back to Hyannis – to the Salvation Army and back to the streets for another day of walking the streets, the malls, sitting in the bus station.
When I first began to participate in the Overnights, I wondered how it would be – what would I say – what would we do? That was not a problem, once we welcomed our guests. The side buffett was set with the cookies, fruit, and bubbling coffee. We greeted each other and pointed out the food, bathrooms; and some of them, accustomed to the routine, picked out their air mattress in the corner they preferred and began settling in.
They made up the beds and chose the sheets and blankets they preferred. Once all set, they picked up some snacks, and we all sat down to talk. Most of them were ready to chat – with each other, with us, but some just lay down on their bed and began to read. They knew the routine and settled right in. Some enjoy the snacks – the popcorn and cookies are their favorites. Sometimes we talk a lot, sometimes a few of us played games. But mostly we talk about how the day had been, or sometimes about whatever elections may have been taking place, and occasionally news within the homeless community; a recent death, the bad meal tonight at the Noah Shelter, changes taking place at an agency. Susan, a regular visitor, had been a dieteician. She always went to bed early, but due to a mental health problem, quietly mumbled to herself.
Karen, of course, like all devoted knitters, began to knit as we talked, and was surprised and pleased to find that the youngest woman, Ann, a first- timer with us, was enthralled. She said that her mother had taught her a little bit of knitting once, and she knew how to “cast on” and to “knit and purl.” Karen kindly asked her about how much she had done, and then offered to let her try it again! Ann was thrilled and the two of them spent the rest of the evening reviewing the steps and the knack of knitting. It was clearly a special time for them and even for the others as we carried out a typical small talk evening that brought about a sense of peace. We all were pleased to be sitting in a setting where a homey atmosphere had been created for a few hours. The women, tired from their long days walking the Hyannis area, go off to their “beds”, with their possessions in large black trash bags, it has been a long day, and they are tired.
Deb: In Psalm 84 we read and feel the deep longings and yearnings of the writer. This Psalm reveals to us one who longs for a home for his restless heart. The Psalms are beautiful and timeless expressions of a range of human emotions. We hear and can feel the depth of the writer’s pain, anxiety, restlessness. Their laments can make our own soul quiver. They seek faith, rest and care for their soul and they also proclaim joy, praise and celebration. The Psalsm are universal longings of our hearts.
In Psalm 84 the writer seeks the dwelling place of the Lord. We all seek this same safe dwelling place. His soul yearns for it – and even faints for it. It is a soul seeking safety, peace and rest. Just as a sparrow finds a home or a swallow builds a nest – a nest so safe that she could have her young within it – the Psalmist seeks the safe dwelling place of the Lord. “For better is one day in your courts oh Lord, than a thousand elsewhere.”
We all seek the dwelling place of the Lord – a place to lay our restless hearts and souls. The quest for a home – is not only biblical and ancient - it is an ever present hope.
Shirley: In Matthew 8: 20 Jesus said:
Foxes have holes and birds have nests,
But the Son of Man has no place to lie down and rest,
And neither do I …….says the family living in the streets.
Welcome the stranger
They come from next door and over the sea
You never know who they might be
A Man who is sick
A Mother with Child
A Veteran who served
Now neglected, and on the street
We used to have a place that we could call “home, sweet home”, but life has dealt us all a blow, and now we’ve got no place to go.
We feel like Throw Away People,
with no Hope in sight and nothing to lose,
Jesus said: "Do not let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God and trust also in me. In my Father's house are many rooms; if it were not so, I would have told you.
Deb: A house is not a home. One could have the biggest house on the block, one that is decorated to the nines and one that is coordinated with the best that Bernie and Phil’s has to offer – but it may not be a home. Inside the walls of an elaborately decorated home or a one room apartment may be a place of anger, fear or tears. It may not be a place of shelter and rest.
Home is found wherever you are loved and you love.
Home is found wherever you are accepted and you accept.
Home is a place where you are allowed to fail without being afraid or made to feel inadequate.
Home is where you can grow and create and learn and sing and dream.
Home is a place where you can sleep and you can find rest your restless soul.
St. Augustine said that
Almighty God,
you have made us for yourself,
and our hearts are restless
till they find their rest in you;
so lead us by your Spirit
that in this life we may live to your glory
and in the life to come enjoy you forever;
through Jesus Christ our Lord
who is alive with you and the Holy Spirit,
one God now and forever. Amen.
Our hearts are restless until they find their rest in you.
We are at truly at home with God. When we turn whatever it is that makes our hearts restless - over to God and place ourselves in the hands of the Holy Spirit – it is then that we are at home. Home is in the hands of God.
A house may not be a home – but for many a house and a safe place is a basic necessity.
Shirley: So, what do we need to do, you and I, given these difficult and very sad problems?
In spite of some of the heroic efforts to provide homes for all, the solutions seem almost insurmountable. Now we are in an economic downturn that has affected the housing market so seriously , that even more people are on the verge or have already lost their homes. It is clear that there is much to do, many opportunities to help, and a choice of paths we might take. How can we make a difference in the lives of so many needy people? The job seems almost too big!
However, there are many opportunities – more than we might realize. Already this weekend you have been focusing on the homeless. As a result of the marvelous blues concert held this weekend, your church now will send $2,500 to the Lowell Transitional Living Center. Their important work began in 1986 as a shelter providing beds, hot meals, and nursing services. Since then, they have added services for an increasing population of the elderly and youth, and now serve 90 homeless men and women in the Lowell area.
The Massachusetts Coalition for the Homeless, operating statewide, has just come out with a plan that hopes to end homelessness in the state within five years. Part of the plan is to work out a system where all departments of the government will coordinate activities to work together to help to eradicate homeless. There is a postcard downstairs that you may send to your State Senator to support legislation aimed at providing for families who are homeless.
Many of you are familiar with Habitat for Humanity. This church founded the first Littleton Habitat build about a decade ago. Habitat continues to build affordable housing and at a recent luncheon of new Habitat owners, I heard them talk about how it felt to get a house of their own after spending many years drifting from rental to rental or worse. They glowingly told of the joy they experienced and how it changed their lives, as well as their children’s lives One woman had prepared a moving poem that expressed her new found sense of self-worth. Having a home is so meaningful to people who have been without, possibility we cannot even appreciate what it is like to finally come home.
Jesus said, “Don’t worry; I will take care of you.”
He expects all of us to do what we can.
What will our part be?
Amen.
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