Things Fall Apart

Over time, homeowners have to repair and replace major items in the house. At the Inn, we also have major breakdowns, often at the most inopportune times. This past Sunday/Monday is a great example. On Sunday, Mark and I were off for the day. When we returned from a peaceful day of birding in New Jersey, we saw a man on his knees on the sidewalk, pushing a plumbing "snake" down into a hole. Apparently someone flushed an object down the toilet, and it stopped up the outflow. The sewage backed up into the basement, but no one went into the basement during the meal. By the time the backup was discovered, several inches of water covered the floor. The plumbers were called (on a Sunday!), but couldn't get to the problem. The garbage disposal also stopped working during the meal. This is critical because we use the disposal to destroy food left on plates when the plates are washed during the meal. Fortunately, Sr. Leslie has talents in the repair department, and she was able to take the disposal apart, discover the source of problem (a small staple), remove it, and get the garbage disposal back together in record time.
Monday the plumbers returned with a longer snake and were able to remove the blockage. We were able to get the bathrooms open again. For Monday's meal, Mark was assigned to dishwasher. He turned the machine on to fill it up with hot water for the first load of dishes. The light that indicates the water is in place just kept blinking. Mark called over Sr. Mary, who went through the procedure again--same thing happened. Sr. Leslie and Karen both came over to see if they could solve the problem, to no avail. At this point it was 4:25 and the meal was scheduled to start in five minutes. Karen, the coordinator, quickly made the decision to go with paper cups and plastic spoons for the meal. The bowls for the roast beef over rice would have to be washed by hand. Sister Mary got water boiling on the stove, and Mark and Mary washed 328 bowls by hand in the sink. The dishwasher repairmen showed up Tuesday morning and worked all day, but could not finish the job. We have been promised that by noon today, the dishwasher will be up and running. Both breakfast pots and all items from Tuesday's dinner were washed by hand. Fortunately, we have 8 students from Lemoyne College here all week, so we have lots of hands to do the work.

Group Visitors from Home

It is interesting how ones perspective changes. After Thea and I had been here awhile and had learned all of the basic jobs at the Inn, we actually began to dread -- well not DREAD, but at least to be weary -- of new groups of volunteers coming to St. Francis Inn. At first, it was really fun to meet new people each week and to teach others how to do the various tasks efficiently. However, as with all human endeavor, it eventually becomes tiresome. When I look on the schedule and see that a new group of college students is coming to the Inn, I think to myself: "Well, I hope these kids are quicker learners than that LAST group!" I know this is not especially Franciscan or Christian, but it is honestly sometimes the way I feel.

However, when the visitors are your friends, all this changes. Last month, our close friends Marie and Mary Ann visited, and we just loved seeing them. This past week, we had a wonderful group of seven from St. Aloysius in Hickory, and we had an equally-great time with them. The group visit was supposed to be a surprise, but through an e-mail glitch, Thea and I found out their plans pretty early. On the one hand, it was a disappointment: it would have been great to be surprised. On the other hand, since we knew they were coming, we could -- and did -- look forward to the visit. We had been on previous mission trips with three of the members of the group, and so we knew that they were dedicated workers that would do well in the SFI setting.

When the group arrived, Thea and I were the host couple, and we took pride in putting them to work. We had found out in advance that several of the men had some "fix-it" and construction skills, abilities which many of our visiting groups do not possess. So the Inn staff -- especially Karen and Barbara -- put together a long, long list of various tasks, ranging from hanging fire extinguishers in three locations and sealing windows to replacing bathroom floors and fixing plumbing leaks. The guys tackled the tasks with aplomb and efficiency, and by week's end had finished most of the jobs on the list. There were several adventures, including picking up a six ft. high section of picket fence at Home Depot, only to discover that the fence was too large to fit into the Inn's van. We jury-rigged a rooftop mounting using twine and drove slowly coming home, praying to St. Francis all the way!

Other members of the group helped with other extra jobs, including a complete weeding, trimming and clean up of the back yard of our neighboring house. In two hours flat, the yard was transformed from a junky, weedy, overgrown mess to an orderly, beautiful yard. It was a miracle. Again, our Inn staff, especially Barbara, were ecstatic. Other members helped Thea do soil preparation at a nearby community garden managed by the residents of the Catholic Workers, House.

Now, before you think that the St. Als group didn't get to work at the Inn itself, let me set the record straight. All of the above was IN ADDITION to working regular shifts at the Inn, St. Benedict's Thrift shop, and doing pick ups. During the afternoons when most of the groups get a break, many of the St. Als groups worked at these extra tasks. After a couple of days, one of the guys told me that he was "pooped!" No wonder -- we worked them hard, or rather, they worked themselves hard. Thea and I were so proud to be associated with these talented and spirit-filled people.

I don't want to put words in anybody's mouth, but the experience seemed to be really positive for all. One person told me that this "seems more like a lovely week-long retreat than a mission trip." Another member of the group, a college student, made what will probably be a lasting friendship with 87 year old Sister Margaret. Still another spent several meals talking to our guests in the yard and came away with a new view of the homeless.

This morning, after Sunday mass, the group departed. As they left, one of the men said to me: "Thanks so much for allowing us to have this experience. If you and Thea had not come up here, we would never have come here either." Truly it was a pleasure for Thea and me to be God's instruments in exposing the St. Al's group to the wonderful work of the St. Francis Inn. The experience also remind Thea and me how much we miss home and are looking forward to getting back to Hickory. Spending time with the group definitely helped begin our transition from our life at SFI to the next phase of our life back in North Carolina. Again, and always, God works through all of us for mutual benefit and growth.

Praise be to God!

Hot dog supper

One of the challenges at the Inn is being able to work under many individuals with widely divergent personalities. For example, if one cooks with Br. Fred, there is virtually nothing to do. Br. Fred will get up at 5 am and prepare everything, all the way down to counting out the forks and napkins for the takeout meals (side doors). When I have been assistant to Fred, my contribution has been opening a few cans of some vegetable and heating them on the stove.
At the other end of the continuum is Br. Xavier. Xavier is a master at taking food someone else has cooked and transforming it into a new dish--a soup, stew or sandwich. Usually he cooks alone and commandeers a local volunteer to fetch and carry for him. However, yesterday I was assigned to him as assistant cook. I wasn't concerned as he had let me know earlier in the week that we were having hot dogs. I had seen hundreds of hot dog rolls arrive on Monday with the bread, and he had moved them to the cooler and marked them with his name, so we were set. I figured I would just have to open a few cans of beans, heat them up, and we would be ready. WRONG!!!!
On Wednesday Xavier let me know he had a doctor's appointment Thursday morning, and I should take some cooked potatoes left over from another day and make potato salad. No problem, I thought. I searched the cooler for the potatoes. I found pans of green beans, peas, applesauce, lasagna, even ham and pineapple. After some searching and asking, I located them in a different refrigerator. I set to work cutting up the 20 pounds of potatoes and adding celery, onion, boiled eggs, mayonnaise and a little mustard. After two hours, I was finished. It tasted great. By that time, Xavier had returned. We were cooking for 300 people, and I knew we needed more side dishes. Xavier turned the green beans into a cold string bean salad, and I made a huge tossed salad. With the applesauce, we had 2 hot dogs and 2 buns for each guest, plus two side dishes. I have learned that one must have backup dishes in case the food doesn't stretch as far as expected. Xavier pointed out more boiled potatoes and the peas.
Around 3 pm I began opening all the packs of hot dogs and we made 20 take out platters. By 4:30 I had everything ready to begin serving the food. At that point, Xavier disappeared. I had expected him to continue cooking the dogs, and I would make the switch of the various sides as they ran out. Instead, I was suddenly cooking, removing the cooked dogs, adding new ones to the tilt skillet, washing used pots, bringing in more drinks, and bringing the new food to the servers. At one point the water level of the tilt skillet got too low and I had to bring a faucet into the skillet and refill it. I threw in the dogs and lowered the lid. Too late, I realized I had not flipped the faucet out of the skillet and by lowering the lid I had bent the entire pipe. Other cooks had done the same thing earlier in the year, and I had conscientiously avoided doing the damage. Now I had to confess that I had broken the faucet.
The meal finally ended. We had fed 299 people. The backup dishes were needed and we didn't have much in the way of leftovers. I was exhausted and upset that I had damaged the equipment. The event made me appreciate what the cooks do 365 days at the end, and made me happy that I was not a cook. I hope future schedules leave me off cooking detail for the time that remains.

Take Me Out to the Ball Game

I (Thea) received a financial windfall back in March, and decided to use the cash to go to a Phillies game. However, when we started to look for tickets at games that did not conflict with our schedule in May and June, we found that most of the games were sold out. Standing Room Only spots were $17.00, and I balked at the idea of standing for 3 hours. Fortunately, one of the staff members has a brother with 2 season tickets and he was looking to sell his seats for a few of the games. We were able to get seats at last Sunday's night game with the New York Mets.

We took the subway to the stadium and got there early so we could walk around the entire level and observe all the concession stands, memorabilia and all the bells and whistles this 5 year old stadium has. Our seats were on the fourth tier, but behind home plate so we had a good view of the batter and the giant tv screen. The people sitting around us were mostly young men and women, rabid fans but very courteous and willing to answer our questions as first time visitors to the stadium.

The Mets had a great pitcher for this game with a 90 mph fastball. The Phillies pitcher, Jamie Moyer, is old (46) for a major league player and his fastball was a mere 80 mph. However, he held his own. At the bottom of the fourth inning the score was Mets 5, Phillies 2. We were thinking it might be a rout for the home team. Then a few hits and walks later, the bases were loaded and the batter hit a grand slam. When a home run occurs, a giant neon Liberty Bell lights up, fireworks go up and the bell gongs. People were jumping up and down and high-fiving each others. More hits and another homer later, and the Phillies were up 11-5. That was pretty much the ballgame. We stayed until the end, took the subway home and got back around midnight.

"One is silver and the other's gold."

As much as we like the members of the community here at St. Francis, we miss our family and our friends immensely. Therefore, we were so excited to have a visit from our two dear friends Mary Ann Crane and Marie Martino. Both are members of our parish in Hickory, and we have spent many hours with them and their husbands having dinner, discussing life, and in general having great times. Both ladies worked at the Inn all day Thursday and on Friday. They are outgoing and great conversationalists. By the time they left, they were all on a first name basis with Danny, Ted, Rambo, and a number of other colorful characters that populate the Inn.

We were rather short on volunteers Friday and I (Thea) was the coordinator that day. So it was helpful to know that if I left Mary Ann and Marie in charge of cut desserts, I did not have to return every 15 minutes to be sure they would be finished in time. These ladies have not only raised families but also done lots of volunteer work, so they were able to take in the routine we use pretty quickly. By the end of the day Friday, Mary Ann was instructing the servers and bussers and Marie was doing mail checks for the guests. If they had stayed a few more days, they would have been asked to be Team members!

The only negative about their visit was that they had to leave, and we will not see them for at least 8 more weeks. Looking at the calendar made us realize that we are starting to be "short-timers;" eight weeks from today we plan to start our journey South. We can already tell that the transition will be bittersweet. We have gotten so much from the guests and the community here, but at the same time there are people that want us nearby in North Carolina and other places where we may be able to share our gifts.

Behavior: what does it say about us?

This morning at mass, Father Pat made a simple observation. The early church was characterized by disciples and followers of Jesus "who loved one another". The book of Acts confirms this. The early Christians held their property in common; money and goods were distributed accordinging to each person's needs; non-believers knew the the early Christians by their love for one another. So, if that is the way things began, what changed? According to Father Pat, the problem was that beginning with the naming of the early followers as "Christians" (which happened at Antioch) and continuing as emperor Constantine made Chrisitianity the official religion of Rome, we became more interested in what we are called than in how we actually behave. As Christians, Father Pat continued, we ought to be concentrating on our behavior, as opposed to being "Catholic" or even "Christian".

That got me (Mark) thinking: how do I actually behave, when no one is looking? Do people look at me and say: "We know he is a Christian, not because of what he says, but because of what he does." Oh, I know that my immediate family and friends love me and think that I am a loving person -- at least I hope they do. But, the real question is: would a complete stranger know that I am Christian by my behavior? Do I "walk the walk" or simple talk a good game?

I meditated on this during my prayer time this morning, and I have to say that the "reviews" were mixed. I thought about the young woman I confronted about her littering in the CVS parking lot several months ago. I doubt that she would have thought my actions qualified me as a loving Christian. I thought about James, the young gay man I met at the St. Francis Inn two weeks ago, and how I had consoled him during a time of crisis in his life. He might vote "yes".

Then, a recent example from this past week popped into my head. Thea and I were at our daughter Angela's house. Cade, our three year old grandson was upset. It was late in the afternoon and he wanted to go to the park. Our daugher and son-in-law wanted to get going on dinner and the evening routine, which did NOT include a trip to the park. So, Thea and I suggested that we take Cade to the park for a few minutes. It wasn't in the plan for the day, but we could be a little flexible.

Since we needed the carseat, we took Angela's car. About halfway to the park, I glanced at the fuel gauge -- YIKES!!! We were not just low, we were running on fumes: the low fuel light was on and the needle was well to the LEFT of the red "E". Silently praying, I drove toward the park and turned in to the very first gas station I saw. We had never stopped at that station before for gas, and it wasn't the lowest price, but "any port in a storm".

As I began the fueling process, I became conscious of a young man approaching me. He was tall, dark hair...serious. "Sir, I am really embarrassed to ask you, but I need money." He related a whole, involved story of how he had come up from Mississippi to help out a friend whose mother was sick. When he got here, his friend didn't have any money, and the mother needed special treatment for a broken hip. They were on their way from Raleigh to Charlotte, but did not have enough gas to get there. A kind soul had already given them $5, but they would soon need more. Could I please give him $20 for gas?

Now, if there is one thing that our eight months at the St. Francis Inn has taught us, it is how to respond to " a hustle". Our guests at the Inn are professional hustlers. You cannot live on the street without knowing how to get money out of kind-hearted, but unsuspecting people. Thea and I have learned to "check things out" before we say "Yes", and our cardinal rule is "Never give money directly to the guests because it will invariably be used to buy drugs or alcohol." I was being asked by a complete stranger to violate this rule.

He could see that I was wary and so he pulled out his ID. I checked it: he was from Mississippi, and he was veteran, discharged in summer, 2009. I glanced at his car: there was an old woman in the passenger seat, motionless with her head drooping, as if in pain. I made careful eye contact with the young man -- he looked earnest, embarrassed, and a little desparate. In consulted my "inner voice" -- no warning bells sounded. With one final look at the ID, I pulled out my wallet and gave him a $20. I watched as he got into his car and pulled away. I thought for a moment that I'd been "hustled", but he was only moving to the other side of the gas pump to better access his fuel tank. I pumped my own gas, got into my vehicle, and proceeded to the park with Cade and Thea. I assume that he finished his own fueling and drove on to Charlotte.

As I pushed Cade on the park swing, I wondered if the man was "legit" or if he had just taken advantage of me. He insisted on taking my address, swearing that when he returned home, he would send me the money. As I reflect on this now, I realize that whether or not he repays me does not matter. In this one instance, I did actually did behave as a loving Christian. I believe that God acted through me to help another person who was in need. Chalk one up for the Holy Spirit.

Do I always act this way? Of course not. There are many instances when I, like everyone else, am selfish, self-centered, and downright mean. However, Jesus calls me and all of us to behave so much that people will know we are Christians by our love. It's a tough task, but with His Grace, that is what we are called to do, one day at a time, one person at a time, one "incident" at a time.

St. Francis puts it another way, "Preach the gospel at all times...if necessary, use words!"

We're BAAAACK

We returned today after 8 days of being in Raleigh. We were able to hold for the first time our newest granddaughter Reese. We saw 6 month old Catie for the first time since Christmas. We were amazed at the change in her, both in terms of her size and her development. She is almost crawling and reaches out and holds objects. We celebrated Cade's third birthday, and truly enjoyed his impish personality and his obsession with trains and earth moving equipment. He laughs hysterically with Mark pretends that he is the "Voice of the Cosmos" and tells Cade "Cade Poovey is a dingbat! That is all. "

However, when we returned today, we were excited to be back and hear the news of the Inn. Leo, one of the FVM's, wrote a play in iambic pentameter, gently spoofing the friars and their visitator. The visitator came by last week as part of a regular review of friars, and of course our guys here passed with flying colors. However, the play capitalized on the little idiosyncrasies that each friar exhibits, such as Br. Fred's desire to have everything clean and orderly. We have a big "X" made of tape on the floor of the kitchen where nothing is to be placed because it would block access to a shelf with trash bags. Br.Xavier tells the visitator about his scrap metal collection and how it is used to pay for tokens for the guests. Fr. Patrick talks about his antiwar demonstrations and why he needs money to make bail, and Fr. Bill waxes on about his travels to various parishes and his delight in baking bread and cakes. The play was performed this evening after Mass, and I laughed until I cried. Various team members showed their thespian skills by taking the parts of the friars. I think the play shows how comfortable people are with others in the community and how we can laugh with, not at, each other.