Archive for January, 2009
Finding the line between mansions and hovels
- Rob McCann, Executive Director
One of the standards that guides us in our efforts to provide housing for people is this question, asked by our previous executive director, Donna Hanson, when we were building new housing: “Would I feel comfortable having my mother live here?” Some people might say this is going too far. They might say we’re sacrificing too much quantity for quality. They might say that if we spread the money out more, we could serve more people.
They might be right. It’s tough deciding where to draw those lines. But one thing we’re always aware of is our desire not to injure human dignity. Would we really be providing a valuable service if we crammed a lot of people into cheap surroundings that did little to nourish the spirit?
What we deeply want for people is the same thing we want for our loved ones, for ourselves: a texture, a richness less material than spiritual. Making that manifest in a physical world usually results in something that is pleasing to the eye, something that makes you relax at the same time it makes you want to do better. That’s the kind of housing we like to provide for our clients.
Reconciliation
- Glori Houston, Director of Housing
2009 is the International Year of Reconciliation.
The dictionary describes reconciliation thus: Opportunities to reestablish a friendship, restore a close relationship, or bring back harmony with a colleague after a disagreement. Rick Warren, author of The Purpose Driven Life, describes reconciliation in this way:
It is the most powerful miracle cure for broken relationships and broken lives…It defuses conflict, turns chaos into calmness, it quiets quarrels, it swaps your stress for serenity, it turns tension into tranquility, and produces peace of mind, rather than panic or pressure.
In essence, reconciliation is the restoration of peace–with others, and in your own heart. And both are important. Why? Because, unless you create peace in your own heart, no amount of education will enable you to create peace with others. Building walls around your heart will preclude your having the experience of empathy for how other people feel–the essential ingredient of reconciliation.
But, you might say, reconciliation is easier said than done. You are absolutely correct. It is easy to confess good intentions to reconcile, but much more difficult to translate your words into action. Reconciliation is not easy. This is why it is seemingly in short supply today. But what good things in life come easy?
Rick Warren also has the following to say:
Many people are reluctant to reconcile strained relationships because they don’t understand the difference between forgiveness and trust, or the difference between reconciliation and resolution… In fact they are afraid that if they reconcile they will have to return to a hurtful or dysfunction relationship without any changes taking place.
You see, while resolution is the focus on the issues, reconciliation is a focus on the relationship. Reconciliation is not about trusting someone again, for trust is something that is earned through time. Rather, reconciliation is about forgiving people for their past actions: the realization that we are all infallible, capable of making mistakes, and sometimes swerve in the wrong direction. And thus, we would do well to give people a chance to earn back that trust, step-by-step and action-by-action.
So perhaps for 2009 it would be a good idea to look into our own hearts and make some reconciliation with others, perhaps family, former friends, or those who work around us.
Living Catholic
- Rob McCann, Executive Director
One of the meanings of the word catholic is “including or concerning all humankind; universal.” That’s one of the things I like about being Catholic. I appreciate the way I was brought up to believe that all humans contain a spark of divinity, and that it is my privilege and obligation to nurture that spark in whoever crosses my path. I’m not saying I always do it; but it’s the ideal I was taught, the ideal I believe in, the one that, when I’m at my best, guides my actions. It’s one of the guiding principles behind our work at Catholic Charities, which is one of many reasons I love being here.
Goethe said, “If you treat an individual… as if he were what he ought to be and could be, he will become what he ought to be and could be.” It’s an interesting notion. Do you think people rise to the expectations we hold for them? If you treat a person as if he’s better than your experience might indicate, does that very treatment change the dynamic in a way that gives him more room to grow? If indeed we do each have a spark of divinity within us, it only makes sense to respond to that spark, to treat it as if it’s an incipient flame. Who knows what fire might begin blazing?