Dad Sent Me To Emerald City And I'm Thankful!

On the eve of this Father's Day, I think of my Dad who made me who I am.  He and Mom adopted me into their new family of three which grew to four with the adoption of my sister, Kim, about five years later.

Dad was a highly respected Episcopal Priest by calling and vocation.  He ministered to "high society" families and the poorest of the poor with absolute equality.

He kept the image and message of the Risen and Victorious Christ in front of his congregation of Saint John's throughout his forty years as rector[1] in that place.

He taught me through his example to serve "the least of these" and to love in the Name of Christ to the best of my ability.

That life lesson has taken many forms with successes and failures along the way.  These days, I am loving serving those men and women who much of the rest of society does not care to understand.

This series of blogs is my way of helping non-residents of Emerald City and its surrounding bridge communities to better understand day to day life as a daughter or son addicted and homeless.

Dad's lesson from him to me is summed up nicely in this song by Matthew West:

                       

Do Something

I woke up this morning
Saw a world full of trouble now, thought
How’d we ever get so far down, and
How’s it ever gonna turn around
So I turned my eyes to Heaven
I thought, “God, why don’t You do something?”
Well, I just couldn’t bear the thought of
People living in poverty
Children sold into slavery
The thought disgusted me
So, I shook my fist at Heaven
Said, “God, why don’t You do something?”
He said, “I did, yeah, I created you” (now listen)

If not us, then who
If not me and you
Right now, it’s time for us to do something, yeah
If not now, then when
Will we see an end
To all this pain
Oh, it’s not enough to do nothing
It’s time for us to do something

I’m so tired of talking about
How we are God’s hands and feet
But it’s easier to say than to be
Live like angels of apathy who tell ourselves
It’s alright, “somebody else will do something”
Well, I don’t know about you
But I’m sick and tired of life with no desire
I don’t want a flame, I want a fire and
I wanna be the one who stands up and says
“I’m gonna do something”

If not us, then who
If not me and you
Right now, it’s time for us to do something, yes it is, come on
If not now, then when
Will we see an end
To all this pain
Oh oh, it’s not enough to do nothing
It’s time for us to do something

We are the salt of the earth
We are a city on a hill
We’re never gonna change the world
By standing still
No, we won’t stand still
No, we won’t stand still
No, we won’t stand still
No

If not us, then who
If not me and you
Right now
It’s time for us to do something
If not now, then when
Will we see an end
To all this pain
It’s not enough to do nothing
It’s time for us to do something
It’s time for us to do something
It’s time for us to do something[2]

---

[1] pastor

[2] Songwriters: Matthew West, Do Something lyrics © Warner/Chappell Music, Inc