Winding Down

It has been about a week since I last wrote of my feelings about the world not being such a great place. I know that the world hasn't changed a great deal since then, but my outlook is quite a bit more positive now, which tells me that I simply let the circumstances get to me and affect me at a level perhaps deeper than it should have. On Sunday I had a conversation with a good friend of mine, who is a manager at his office, and he gave me some very good advice, which I have been trying to apply daily. He told me that as a manager he has to be able to feel for the people he is in charge of, but not allow that to get in the way of him doing his work or, consequently, them doing their work. It is not about becoming numb to the issues or problems of people, as I have been hearing so often since I got here. I am not willing to accept that becoming numb is an effective way to do your job as someone who is in the business of helping people. It is about feeling their pain, and then because you do feel their pain, being able to rise above your own emotional reactions to do your job and help them to continue to do theirs. Someone who has become numb is not hard to spot, and they are the ones who are not doing their job well. It is those who feel, and feel very much, the pain of the person sitting in front of them that do a good job day in and day out. They simply have trained their emotions to drive them to do their job better, rather than to debilitate them. As a somewhat empathetic person, this has been a challenge for me, but that is what I am striving towards, and it is where I must get if I am to have any success long term in helping the people our mission is built around.


In the last week, we have received two shipments of food at the office and our shelves and the reserves are completely stocked. This will only last us a few days, but it certainly changed my attitude, and the energy of the entire office, to much more positive and motivated. I wish I had photos of the pantry when it is fully stocked, I will get some, but I did post a photo of what it looks like when it is empty and causing us to turn away hungry people. We have had a good response from people in the community, as well as people from across the country who are involved in this project, to the holiday donation appeal. Normally, the office puts together 75 baskets for families on Thanksgiving, but this year it has been lowered to 50. That is still far better than not having any baskets at all to give out to families, as it looked may be the case about a week ago. Thank you so much to those who have gotten involved and responded with donations of either goods or finances, you know who you are and we are so thankful that you have a heart enough to give to lift the spirits of families you may never meet. I will hopefully be able to go help deliver the baskets and get some photos of the families who are receiving them. It will be such a blessing to see the sincere smiles on their faces, and I hope to be able to share those smiles with you.


I am going to Oregon this evening for the weekend to meet my niece, Lilli, and become her Godfather at her baptism on Sunday. I am so excited to meet her and hold her, I cannot put it into words. Spending time with my family and friends will be so good for me, as well. I have accepted that I will not be with them for the holidays this year, so this weekend will be as close as I get to that, and I plan to soak up every minute of it. A friend of mine said he would like to join me in volunteering at a soup kitchen on Thanksgiving next week, so I spent a couple hours this morning calling around to area soup kitchens to register us for that. To my surprise, most places were not doing a Thanksgiving dinner, and the ones that were are already full for volunteers. This is really disappointing on one side because I really want to serve, but really encouraging on the other because that means that the call for volunteers has been answered by New Yorkers. Perhaps people are doing more to help than I though, huh? I will continue to look for a place we can serve, and if anyone out there knows of any place in Brooklyn or Manhattan that serves Thanksgiving dinner to the needy and has room for volunteers, please let me know.


My time in New York is quickly winding down, which is both exciting and saddening. I have really enjoyed it here so far and I look forward to spending another two weeks with the people and places I have developed relationships with before I go onto Belize to do the same. Please enjoy the photos I have posted. One is of a some dinosaur fossils at the Museum of Natural History, which I went to on Sunday and really enjoyed. Another is of St. Patrick's Cathedral, a beautiful Catholic church near Times Square that I have called my church here in the city. There is also a photo of myself with some friends from college that were out visiting this week, and the last one is of the skating rink is Rockefeller Plaza, where the Christmas tree will soon stand decorated. Have a wonderful weekend, everyone!