Monday, October 24, 2005

Somebody has got the Muundays...

That was my attempt at a token Office Space quote. Actually, I don't have a case of the Mondays but it is a pretty dreary day.

I am sitting at the computer listening to the Postal Service because Gilly took Viola to the library earlier to get a library card and she borrowed this album for me. I love this album. What great rainy day music.

This past week was kind of nuts, kind of a blur. Everyday was cosumed with activites and even my "off" day wasn't completly an off day. Much of this stress on my part is directly attributable to the fact that the girl who is currently the unofficial Project Leader went on vacation for three weeks. I meant to connect with her for some sort of handover cerimony including the burning of incense and the releasing of 13 doves, but we missed each other for a few days and then she was gone. In the words of Joni Mitchell, "you don't know what you've got till' it's gone". We had never officially talked about procedural issues so I was left to my own to figure out how to run the house and many other things.

This has been a blessing and a curse. A blessing in the sense that I am not officially the Project Leader for the house yet so this gives me a chance to assert and prove myself before it is made public. A curse in the sense that it turned out to be a particularly busy week and one of the residents in particular was quick to point out that he felt myself and Gilly were neglecting the house and our responsibilities because we were never around. I don't think that he has a valid point but can understand his sentiments and have tried to affirm him in that.

As a part of our community processes we have daily "breakfast meetings" that serve as debriefing sessions and allow folks to communicate about issues. Because of last week's schedule we did not have any meetings (which just compouded the problem I believe), but I knew it was necessary to implement them again begining today. Since there had already been discussion about last week's shortcomings, the meeting wasn't particularly contentious and I think that we are all on roughly the same page. Me and Gilly tried to assert our desire to be residents in the house and I think that we are ready to move forward.

We have a new worker coming into the house tommorow named Vikki. I don't know anything about her and neither does anyone else. As much as I appreciate this community and love the model, the inefficiency can make me laugh sometimes. If you are keeping score that now makes 3 workers (4 if you include Isabell who will be on vacation for a few weeks and probably moving on a few months afterwards), 2 residents, and 1 resident that is currently living in Simon House who will probably be joining us in the coming weeks. I suspect that we have the capacity for 10-12 people in the house and I think that the optimum ratio would be about 6-8 residents and 4 workers. I have read somewhere that the maximum size for small-groups to function effectively is around 10 people. Much more than that and people begin to become passive. I suspect that this relates more to meetings that are conducted with small groups, but I think that it has implications for community as well. I think that it is fascinating that Jesus had 12 disciples....Jesus, a genius when it came to small group dynamics.

Cheers, Chris

Tuesday, October 18, 2005

A Canterbury Tale

Okay, well I didn't actually hang out in Canterbury today, but I did drive through it and saw the wall that surrounded the old city. Today, I went on visitation to see a fella who had been part of the community for years and is now living down towards the coast in an assisted living place.

Me and three other guys piled into the minibus (which seats 17 by the way and probably gets 2 miles to the liter so it was a bit silly for us four to take) and headed down to Margate which is on the British Channel. I could almost hock a lugey (sp?) to France.

I was nice to be out of the city for the first time since I have been here, but hanging out with three fellas whos combined age is actually longer than the exsistance of the United States can be a bit taxing.

"Blind Bill", as he is called by his dearest of friends, was the visitee today and I knew that it was going to be an interesting afternoon when we walked into his room at the house that he is living in and he was completly unziped and peeing into a urine container of some sort. No shame. I guess if he can't see us, then we can't see him.

After the obligatory jiggle, we were off to the seaside.

The afternoon consisted of myself and Martin (a Catholic Priest who likes to cuss a fair bit) pushing two wheelchairs around while "Little Richard" struggled to keep up with our maniac pace of 1 sidewalk block per minute. We found a chip shop and I had my first taste of true British Fish and Chips smothered in malt vinegar...."Little Richard" had ice cream and "Blind Bill" stole sugar packets.

I am actually not being fair because it actually wasn't that bad but when you get three old men together for an afternoon and half of their 5 senses don't work correctly it can be a bit tiring. I hate to see older folks being forgotten about though so it was worth it so that Bill knew that people cared enough to drive a few hours to visit him. The free fish and chips were just an extra.

I am still keeping busy doing outreach work, shifts at Simon House and just generally trying to establish myself in the Community. For better or for worse, this may come quicker than I had expected because my boss asked me last week if I would take on the Project Leader position for the house that I am living in. I am excited about that, but I think that in the job description it should mention something about being complained about by people who don't react well to change. The Simon Community is in a very interesting transition point right now as we are moving from an entirely volunteer run organization to one that employs professional management while still heavily utilizing volunteers. I think that this shift is a great thing for so many reasons, but there are a lot of people who are very vocal and opinionated about how the Community has "changed" from what it used to be. Power struggles galore....let me jump into the fray.

Please be in prayer that I would have the ability to be diplomatic and to really hear people's concerns. I would also appreciate your prayers for the ability to lead as this is something that I have been learning over the past few years but is not necessarily a natural ability of mine. Thanks so much for laboring with me in prayer guys, I was remined yesterday of how incredibly important it is while reading the following passage in Oswald Chambers' "My Utmost for his Highest" (such a fantastic little book full of God-sized wisdom).

Prayer is the battle; it is a matter of indifference where you are. Whichever way God engineers circumstances, the duty is to pray.....There is nothing thrilling about a labouring man's work, but it is the labouring man who makes the conceptions of the genius possible; and it is the labouring saint who makes the conceptions of his Master possible. You labour at prayer and results happen all the time from His standpoint.

I know that the Lord has honored so much already.

Much love, Chris

Wednesday, October 12, 2005

A mixture of foie gras and wild boar patte....people like that crap?

My posts don't always have to be verbose. Hey, say that out loud, it rhymes, sortof.

I am knackered after going out on my first soup run tonite. Volunteers always snatch up the soup run slot but I squeeeeeeezed myself in this week.

Our soup runs are just that, running around town to all the hot-spots with soup....and sandwiches, and tea.

Comic relief of the evening: Riding around in a mini-bus with 6-8 homeless folks belting (seriously, they were belting) out pop tunes that I don't know because I wasn't born yet. Funny stuff.

Goodnight to all and to all a good night, Chris

Friday, October 07, 2005

Check mate or Check, Mate?

Victory is mine, and it is really really good....

At approximately 9:37 PM on this past Monday, after two and a half hours of combat on the checkered battlefield, I was finally able to utter those game ending words that had been over two weeks in the making.

After being the recipient of hundreds of smug, yet somehow caring, "Check...and, mate" statements made by my South African opponent, it felt good to be able to deliver the phrase myself. This phenomenon has yet to repeat itself though, as we have played many times since Monday with each match ending in the same dialog that had marked the previous two weeks. This post-defeat exchange usually involves me making various noises of frustration which are then followed by Robert's assurance that I am playing better or an exhortation to "protect my pieces".

I am really thankful for mine and Robert's chess matches. Well, that is, in spite of the sleepless nights developing strategy and the detrimental effect that constant failure has had on my self-esteem. Okay, that is a bit of a strech but I am sad to report that I actually have spent multiple nights dreaming about chess. One night I had a dream about a fantastic opening move involving my rooks. But then I forgot.....why is it always the good dreams that you forget?

Our routine of morning matches and after-supper showdowns really has been very good and I am hoping that our friendship will begin to develop outside the chess board.

After weeks of talking, it became official today that Michael will be moving on from the Anton St. house to more private accomodations. In light of the fact that he won't begin recieving his pension until he has turned 60, I actually didn't expect his move to come so soon. Michael will be living in a hostel type setting operated by a local homelessness orgainization (please do not mistake this for the word "Hostile" meaning marked by malevolence). He will have his own room and I believe there are shared common areas like a kitchen and perhaps a living room. While I am excited for Michael, we as a house, (and me as me for that matter) have some reservations about the suitableness of the accomodations. Despite Michael's desire to move away from the community type living that is practiced at Anton St., I think that his time here has been very beneficial for him socially. Although he still does not like groups of people and has a tendancy to isolate himself, house members have noted the immense progress that he has made in his 4 or 5 months in the community. As I had written in a previous post, he does not actually seem too awkward around people or groups, but it is evident that those traits are part of his personality. I am hoping that the progress that he has made in his time here will not be affected by the fact that he will now be able to choose if he wants to see people or not. Please keep Michael in your prayers as he makes this transition.

I am becoming more integrated into the community and have finally reached the point where I am begining to feel comfortable and am able to remember people's names. The name rememberance thing is not a strongpoint of mine and is a big, big milestone. I do not feel as if I have been too incredibly busy since my arrival here, but have been getting involved with doing street outreach, working shifts at the Simon House, and working with some of our outreach services. Truthfully, I have been spending a good amount of time in and around the Anton St. house trying to develop relationships here and getting a feel for how the house does and could run.

The next few weeks will be bringing a lot of change to our house with Michael and Bruce's departures, as well now, as the departure of Steve who is moving to fill an empty bed at the Simon House. It is perhaps this shake up that will allow us to do some restructuring and make room for more residents and, potentially, more workers in the house.

Many apologies for the long time between postings, I had actually been trying to post since my victorious Monday evening but had twice lost the entire post. That can be a quite frustrating thing. Hopefully we will speak soon, but until then, I will sign off with my favorite salutation that I have seen in the UK since the implementation of "Cheers" into my vocabulary.

Afters, Chris