PAGES Fall 2001 Editorial
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MARP PAGES Fall 2001 Editorial |
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Editorial, Fall 2001 issue of PAGES:
"Looking Around Me"
Just as Hopeful needs to speak courage to Christian in Pilgrim's Progress, this has been true for each of us following the events of September 11.
We are reaching out to family, to church friends, to neighbors. An e-mail sent from the MARP office confided: "As you know, the U.S. is at war — this reality takes a while to sink in, but it adds tremendous sadness to my heart.
"On Sunday our dinner company included the five Sudanese youth who entered our lives with the "Lost Boys" immigration effort last fall. Our church family has been giving support to three boys, and two girls, actually. So John, Michael, Deborah, Rebecca, and Abraham came again to our house. Jonah, an IVEPer* from Mozambique, joined us. After lunch one of the young folks turned on the TV. Suddenly all was quiet.
Sam came to the kitchen to tell me Tony Blair was announcing "the war." We watched frozen in place and time. What were these warm-hearted young survivors-of-so-much thinking, fearing as a new world reality unfolds, we wondered and grieved. What a somber last note to the 'Praise God' we had sung earlier! We held hands for a circle prayer before they left. We find some strength together in prayer to our God who loves all the children of the world."
Martha** replied: "Thanks for the letter. We got back from about a three-week trip to see all our children and grandchildren in the U.S. The border crossings were fine. We had been told there could be a lot of searching, etc. But I guess they took one look at us and decided we looked harmless. How things change in a short time and they will never be the same. We felt that being pacifists was not very popular at this time. Are you getting quite a few SOOPers? Hopefully what happened in September won't keep people from going out to help others. It should really do the opposite."
In the spirit of the final question asked here — along with that "hopeful" last sentence
— I also fully expect the SOOP program to grow!
And this will be in spite of, or even a result of, the distress we all feel in a shockingly altered world. Suddenly we are asking questions and finding our foundations for living out "love the enemy" — aware that many of our close neighbors see this as less than patriotic. While we struggle with sleepless nights, fears for our loved ones, shaky relationships, many will continue to give of themselves to gracious service in the name of Jesus, our Shepherd and our Teacher.
Here is a "hopeful last sentence:" An increasing number of older adults decide to explore short-term service right where they live — and on the way — through the Service Opportunities for Older People program.
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