The Word from the Streets - October 11, 2006

Namaste,

What a great day!

As usual, we began our day loading up our vehicles with the precious cargo -- 350 bagged lunches filled with peanut butter and jelly sandwiches and massive amounts of love and caring put in by the Tuesday night crew. There were only a few of us this morning, but no shortage of heart as we headed out to our family on the streets.

The weather was beautiful -- a sunny gorgeous day with the light and breeze of fall. We knew this was good for our folks on the street as well -- no extreme temperatures or harsh weather conditions to deal with.

We entered our first stop at the Peachtree and Pine shelter. It was fairly crowded today. We met up with Larry there who is homeless and also volunteers. (Some of the guys volunteer to work and help out at the shelter in return for slightly better living conditions). Larry showed us a photo of his family in India. He has a wife and children living there that he has been separated from for 6 years and misses very much.

On the streets, in the parks, we found our friends. Cookie had gotten a nice fuzzy sweater since last week, so she was much happier and it was a relief to us she won't be so cold. We saw Mark Tomas at Woodruff park. Mark is a man with a degree from Moorehouse college. He put himself through school while living on the streets. He went Christmas caroling with us last year and is already talking about it this year. We go to the hospice every Christmas and sing, and Mark loves it. He loves to help out, and so do so many of our folks. In fact, that is the teaching of Ma Jaya Sati Bhagavati, the guru of this lineage of yoga: Serve who is in front of you.

Our biggest suprise today was seeing Moses! No, not the biblical figure, but our man of many years. Some months back, he left Atlanta on a one way ticket that was the city's solution to the homeless problem. He went to Wichita to be with his family. We really didn't expect to see him again, but there he was today, smiling and full of peace. He was staying with his sister there, and she recently left to be with her children in England. We were so happy to see him and pray things will work out for him here in Atlanta.

We love all our folks and give thanks for the grace of learning how to serve and share from our hearts. Every small moment, sandwich or smile counts -- anywhere, anytime.

We love you and thank you.

All our Hearts and Gratitude,

The Kashi Atlanta Street Meals Team

 

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