You Can’t Take the Sky From Me
Among other things, I am a fan of a little known show called Firefly.
The lyrics from my fav show go like this:
Take my love, take my land
Take me where I cannot stand
I don’t care, I’m still free
You can’t take the sky from me.
Take me out to the black
Tell them I ain’t comin’ back
Burn the land and boil the sea
You can’t take the sky from me.
Leave the men where they lay
They’ll never see another day
Lost my soul, lost my dream
You can’t take the sky from me.
I feel the black reaching out
I hear its song without a doubt
I still hear and I still see
That you can’t take the sky from me.
Lost my love, lost my land
Lost the last place I could stand
There’s no place I can be
Since I’ve found Serenity
And you can’t take the sky from me.
If you follow the show and get to know the characters, you learn that this song reflects well a batch of downtrodden people living life on the ragged edge together despite hurdles, trials, and past horrors.
Today, this reflects my mood on things. For those not in the know due to my long silence here is where we stand. In the numbers side we are averaging about 25 a week, and they are giving enough for us to make our expenses and help a few people. And help we are doing. 4 boxes of clothing went to a homeless shelter run by a friend of mine. This friend does not get a lot of support even in the time of the holidays. Everyone knows about the Salvation Army, Habitat for Humanity, Operation Christmas and so forth. But a little group of people offering transitional housing to homeless couples and homeless with children in a small suburb? Not so much. Since this is transitional housing and not a nightly shelter, they get to know and develop relationships with the people that stay in the house with them. So Pastor Justin updates us on the stories of someone who has gotten a nice coat for the first time in years, a few changes of clothes, toys for their kids, and even a new toothbrush (you can pack a lot in 4 moving boxes). This week, a small team of folks are out Christmas shopping for a family we know (that does not attend our church, but that does not matter). In this family you have mom and dad and 3 kids. Mom is five years younger than me and has cancer. Mom is losing the battle and it has been an expensive one. They do the best they can to pay the bills. Christmas is not gonna be merry for this family. So, for one day, they will be showered with presents, have dinner bought for them, and more importantly…know they are loved. One day where life is not dark and scary. In a life where every day matters and is a gift, that one day can mean a lot.
Now, I know that there are other communities and bodies that do a lot more than we do and I also know they are doing them to reach more people. But bear with me.
Underneath it all is a spirit. As these people who only met a few scant weeks ago catch this fire in my belly of mercy and justice and love, they are doing it for and to each other. I am seeing a couple in our group touched by others as they find hope in the wake of an expensive civil court battle they lost. They are not asking where is God because, even though they are down, they are showered with love and friends who are reminding them that-for better or for worse-it is over. There are young adults who come because one of their friends from the Rocky Horror Picture Show crew sings and sets up for us. They come and look at me and say,"I’ve not been to a church or sermon in ten years that I have liked. I gave up on religion. I like this. This means something. What can I do to help change the world?" Now, maybe I should brag about conversions and alter calls to be a good little evangelical. But a prayer at an alter is, at best, the beginning of awareness of a different journey. End of the day, love needs to be felt and experienced before it can be explained. This is not love with a hook, this is unconditional and real and of people’s own volition, they are willing to help each other and love each other and explore this thing a little deeper.
New churches springing up are not doing as well as they used to. But the magic number of outside support seems to be 20-30k a year. We have zero financial support, extremely limited (but VERY appreciative) offers of support for things like use of a copier and dirt cheap rent, and to my knowledge, not a whole lot of peeps from other places that helped us morally on this journey roll up sleeves. By all accounts and all statistics, bastard children like us should not have a prayer or statistical shot. But here we are, in the black, shining a light and no one can take the sky from me.
Me? I am willing to die for this cause, these people, and this idea. This journey for love consumes me and God has shown himself to us in the strangest of ways and with the little things that, if we are not paying attention, we just might miss.
