A Church and a Bar Room on Every Block

Good Morning! It has been a little while since my Detroit post, partly because of a lack of internet access and partly because I had other things to do. So, here it is. (As always, I just got done and realized it's pretty long and unorganized, but hopefully I can update each day now so they will be shorter..and hopefully include some pictures!)

First, it is really good to be back. As I sit here at the cafe down the street, drinking nasty coffee, I have this odd feeling like I never left. Things are just as I remember them, except it is not unbearably hot this time.

When I arrived on Saturday, Pastor Bruce and Deborah were out of town at a classic car show in Biloxi/Gulfport so I stayed with Deborah's sister, Chuckie, who also ran the summer camp program I worked with during my July trip. When we got back to her house, (which we passed a million times during my January PDA trip..odd) I had a while to nap and read, which was appreciated. My current read for this trip is "I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings," the first autobiography by Maya Angelou and it is great. A good mix of history and personal stories that I am really appreciating and learning a lot from, especially in the bigger picture of a lot of what I learned/struggled with in regards to race issues during my last trip.

A little later, Chuckie let me help with dinner, which was a real blessing for a lot of reasons. First, if she knew what happens when I'm in the kitchen, she would have said no : ). For real though, I was so grateful for my cooking time with Deborah last time just because it was always a good fellowship and conversation time for us. So, Chuckie and I cooked a delicious meal that reminded me how much I love southern food. She talked with me about her family, shared some of her "storm story" with me, and gave me some good cooking lessons. (Get ready for Cajun kitchen time Jon!) We made an excellent potato salad - it had a lot of spices so it had a little "kick" to it - and fish fry. As most of you know, I am mostly a vegetarian, but when it comes to southern hospitality, some of that doesn't last. After dinner, I got a nice little surprise and got to see Robert!! If you read last time, Robert is the one who made 3 during summer camp, but is about the size of a 6 year old now. If you are a new reader, it is worth back-logging through the old blogs for his birthday cake picture. He is super cute. That pretty much rounded out Saturday.

Yesterday was great. I love Sundays in New Orleans. I went to the Sunday school class Chuckie taught and then Pastor Bruce and Deborah came back from their trip early so that they could be at church. An incredible couple of hours, that are hard to describe and that the blog can't do justice to, but it was good. After that, we went to do Sunday visits, like last time, and like Bruce does every Sunday. We visted "Ma" who practically raised Pastor Bruce, and has a beauty about her that is hard to describe, and that she probably doesn't see. We then went to see another woman that I met last time I was here, who is too sick to be out much and go to church. When we got there we were also greeted by another woman who finally moved back home this week! 5 years later and she is back in the city that is her home, so we were really excited about that. We watched some more church and then the Saints game (which was pretty sad...), before heading out for one more visit.

The last visit was with a guy Pastor Bruce grew up with, who had been pretty involved in the drug/gang/violence scene until about 7 years ago he was shot, paralyzing him from the chest down. After that, he got himself together and, partially for reasons beyond his control, abandoned that lifestyle and has been raising his daughter, finding some hope somewhere else. Another reminder that our lives can change at any moment and that no one is ever beyond redemption. I am always so amazed at how easily Pastor Bruce can look beyond whatever has happened in someone's past, or even what they are still doing, and just love them. I know part of it is because someone did that for him and, according to him, saved his life, but wow..talk about laying down your pride.

Sunday is the meat of my thought/reflection stuff for this entry. I am always amazed at how church time here makes me appreciate all of the things I usually take for granted. Chuckie reminded each of us that God holds the world in his hands, and that each day that we wake up to live out and each breath we take in, is really a gift. Sometimes we get so caught up in our busyness or our hope for Lazarus-level miracles, that we forget to appreciate the small stuff. I had some other God-thoughts in relation to Sunday School/church time yesterday, but, like last time, I think some things are left for us to work though on our own.

One of the statements that did really catch me, however, was that in New Orleans, there is "a church and a bar room on every block." Now, having been here a bit, I believe this to be more true that we might hope. And although it was used as an illustration for another point, it is in some ways a very good illustration of this city and my experience of it thus far. (I want to preface all of this by stating outright that no church is perfect, and that it is not always a bad thing to be at a bar, and to remind you that this is just one person's interpretation of that which is observable.) However, the hope, community, and goodness represented by the church, and the brokenness, addiction, and sadness represented by the bars are, for me, an illustration of the paradoxical ways of this city. As many of you know, the place has a history of political corruption, only exacerbated in the post-Katrina years as it is contributing to people still not being able to rebuild and move home. The people of the city seem to be plagued by poverty, violence, HIV/AIDS, abuse, and more. They are heartbreaking stories to hear, and it can be a heartbreaking place to be. That being said, the people I have met here understand "family" "faith" and "joy" in ways I can only imagine and hope for. When I was cooking with Chuckie, in her house that is right next door to that of other family members and just down the street from Deborah and Bruce's, she told me all about the big family dinners they have during the holidays and we ate in the biggest dining room I had ever seen, built to accommodate their family. The sisters in their family seem to be in constant communication - whether just to shoot the breeze, talk about comunity issues, or have Miss Alice pick up fish fry from the store for us. Don't get me wrong, I love my family and we have done a lot of great things together, but I hope when I grow up my siblings and I can be that close and my sister and I can "compete" for who makes the best whatever at Christmastime (though we sort of know we will be lucky if it's edible).

In the same way, as I mentioned before, church here always makes me so much more appreciative of everything. I am always amazed, especially yesterday, at the amount of energy and love that flows through such a tiny church with only about 15 worshippers. The place was full of hope and energy, with more Amens than you can imagine. They know who holds them in His hand, and know that whatever they go through, the key word is "through" and that they will come out on the other side. Another difficult experience to try to explain in words, but it was really good stuff yesterday.

We finished off Sunday with another trip to Bruce's favorite buffet. Again, less-than-vegetarian ways on the trip invited me to have my annual crawfish and some shrimp, but mostly I was excited about macaroni & cheese, and the bananas in that red sauce (I hope someone knows what I am talking about..its delicious). I talked with Pastor Bruce about what he has planned for me for the week and was promised that he has 2 months of work for me to do this week, which includes hospital/nursing home visits with some of the people he knows with HIV/AIDS, which I am looking forward to because one of the most valuable parts about these trips is hearing people's stories. And, I'm going to work some on their website, which will be interesting, but is a good tool for them to have.

All in all, I am feeling much less "turtled" than last time, despite feeling a little anxious about what the week has in store. There are a lot of other things floating around in my brain right now..but they aren't quite ready for blogging yet. This entry is not the most exciting and probably didn't invoke tears for you, but they should get better as I get back into the grove. Thank you, as always, for being part of this experience with me and for reading these blogs that always seem to be terribly long..but I do appreciate it and I hope you find them to be worth the time.