Shelter News 20
I was reminded by last Sunday’s sermon about why we have The Phinney Ridge Winter Men’s Shelter. Bob preached about the verse in Genesis where God says “It is not good for man to be alone.” This verse is not only about marriage. God always means more than we know. The verse is about everything, everywhere, at all times. Even at the molecular level. Every good kidney knows that if one enzyme is left alone, it dies. No one wants to be alone, at least not for a prolonged period of time. Hell is where people are alone.
At the Shelter we try to get the men connected, to ourselves, and to God. I am a Christian, a follower of Jesus, and I think it would be the best for all human beings to be connected to their Creator. A man will function better if they know what they were created for. There is no one who knows the purpose of a creature better than the One who created it. It seems an obvious truth. A man is created to not be alone. But things go wrong. By the time we are able to think about it, we find we have already made quite a few “mistakes” which have caused us to move away from being connected. We hide, we blame others for the disconnect. That’s where the Forgiveness comes in, and that Forgiveness is the primary attraction to God and to my fellow human beings. Jesus has got you and me covered. It’s the reason churches have crosses on their buildings. The love which is shown by Jesus is our primary motivation for the Shelter.
We haven’t quite got it perfected as yet. I think another 3,000 meals will keep the love growing. I think another 3,000 socks will help. But of course it’s not about the food and clothing. It’s about people connecting to other people, and to their God.
We’ve got two weeks left for the Shelter. If you haven’t stopped by to not be alone, there is still time.
Ben Paul 4-19-2015