Empty Room
We pay a price for deepest love
with pain of bitter grief. Clean up the shards of broken dreams,
no coins of gold are due.
Remit with shattered screams of fear
into the empty room.
No Room at the Inn
I stayed up until 3am last night finishing the last of my Christmas project. I felt glad to have 6 sets of warmth to give to the folks at the Shelter House for whoever might need them the most. When I finally got around to tying them up with colorful holiday ribbons, they looked like little bundles of accomplishments.(Sorry, I was too disorganized to take a photo.)When I called ahead to the Shelter to ask about a convenient time to stop by, I got a frantic worker on the phone. He assured me that any time was fine, but he didn’t seem too enthused about my interruption. I empathized with his attitude. I remembered what it was like when I worked at a place like that. Sometimes well-meaning people didn’t realize that that they were accidentally stealing precious time and energy from already over-worked employees.The Shelter House is a huge old house near the University, a few blocks from downtown Iowa City. I didn’t arrive until evening, but it was still fairly early. Already, the crowd of shelter-seekers had spilled out onto the porch. As I carried my overflowing giftbag through the group outside, it suddenly felt very small. Several people greeted me, and I heard another excited voice say, "Look, she has Christmas presents." I wished then that they were invisible because there weren’t nearly enough.When I got inside the crowded foyer, some other gentlemen helped me find the staff office. Jake and Abby were inside. They each looked to be about 22 or 23 years old. Maybe that’s how old you have to be to do that job. Abby offered me cookies, and Jake acted a lot more excited about my gifts than he had on the phone. I fought the urge to apologize for not having done more . . . like a check for a billion dollars, create widespread community support, or legislation to give people access to physical & mental health services, medicine, vocational training, and affordable housing. But, there I stood with my silly bag of mittens and hats . . . and they acted genuinely appreciative.I quickly changed the subject and asked about how the Shelter was doing. They said they were well beyond over-flow capacity, however, they were hopeful because the weather had finally improved. At least the people they turn away tonight won’t be suffering in sub-zero temperatures. We talked about how much we need another shelter in our city. It’s difficult to make such a thing happen because of a variety of obstacles, sometimes the least of which is money.As I walked out, I shared Christmas greetings with another dozen people. As I did, it was impossible to stop myself from wondering which of them would be sleeping in a bed tonight and which would be sleeping under the bridge or in a doorway. I was crying before I walked the ½ block back to my car. How do you look a man in the eye, knowing you have the power to make a difference, but do nothing? How do you look a dozen men in the eye, go back home to your warm, comfortable house and knit mittens?I have the power to do more. It's about damn time that I act like it.
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MERRY CHRISTMAS
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Tagged For 10
That sexy ol’ Dick snuck up and whispered in my ear, "Tag! You’re it!"Here are ten random/weird facts about myself to share with the blogging world.
- I consider myself a shy person, but I’m comfortable speaking in front of large groups of people.
- When I was a Girl Scout Camp Counselor I was handcuffed naked to a diving board by the night security guard.
- My eyes are green or blue depending on the weather or what I’m wearing.
- When I was in 2nd grade, the mean kids at school called me Curly Q from Mars.
- I’ve been unemployed a total of 2 ½ months of my adult life.
- I learned how to drive on a John Deere tractor.
- If I could choose any other occupation, I’d be a teacher or a carpenter.
- I once hated someone so much that I fantasized about killing him. He hurt someone I love.
- I really don’t like sticky or messy food sex.
- I once picked up a guy during a back yard game of croquet. I was wearing sneakers, a swimming suit, a lime green hard hat, and drinking a little too much Sangria … so much for being a shy girl.
TAGGING:
Yoga
Blaze
Monkey
Julie
Jayne
For the other 100 things go HERE