we drove up and parked.
began cleaning up the little park @ 2nd and Seldan in downtown detroit.
some local people were just sitting on the benches chilling out.
we pulled weeds and picked up all the garbage around the park.
then we set up the bbq stuff, the tables, and alllll the food.
i met an energetic man named stephen who's a great-grandfather and only 54. he just moved here from texas last summer. me and t prayed for him. he smiled and was so touched when i asked could we pray for him...he said of course! so we did. he said we blessed him so much today and brightened up his life. we didn't even do a whole lot, but he was soo blessed.
then there was irita. she has lots of grandkids. she's a good grandmother to them, lets them come over even when she's tired out. she's going back to school right now so she can become re-certified for her job. she talked and shared with me about her life. i didn't say much back to her, just listened. i prayed for her too, and she thanked me. then she left.
the food...the smells and the smoke of the bbq grill drew people towards the little park we were at today. hungry&homeless. hungry for food. and more. homeless and poor people flocked in from around the area. the line was steady for an hour or so.
one man had a hurt leg and was very quiet and hunched over.
he had the world's troubles written all over his clothes and his face.
wondering where he's come from and where he's going now...
i wonder about these people.
I love them.
they're my neighbors.
Love God. Love your neighbor.
[the two greatest commandments.]
i love the words of God...
"Love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength. 6 These commandments that I give you today are to be upon your hearts. 7 Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up. 8 Tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads. 9 Write them on the doorframes of your houses and on your gates." Deuteronomy 6:5-9
"Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?" 37Jesus replied: " 'Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.38This is the first and greatest commandment. 39And the second is like it: 'Love your neighbor as yourself.40All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments." Matthew 22:36-40
and i love the words of mother teresa...
"We must acknowledge the dignity of the poor, respect them, esteem them, love them, serve them. Often I think they are the ones to whom we owe our greatest gratitude. They teach us by their faith, their resignation, their patience in suffering. They allow us to help them. We should experience not pity but compassion towards them." -Mother Teresa
"The greatest poverty in the world is not the want of food but the want of love. You have the poverty of people who are dissatisfied with what they have, who do not know how to suffer, who give in to despair. The poverty of the heart is often more difficult to relieve and to defeat." -Mother Teresa
i am eager to continue to learn to live like this in my own life.
Loving God first and foremost, and loving others second, and loving myself third.
"those who hope in the LORD
will renew their strength.
They will soar on wings like eagles;
they will run and not grow weary,
they will walk and not be faint." Isaiah 40:31
that's all for now.
