Tree of Life
Greetings from Denver on this World Homelessness Day.
I recently met a young man named Kenneth just on the outskirts of Civic Center Park. He had been homeless in Denver for about a year. He told me about some of the misfortune he experienced that led to his becoming homeless. It was one of those one-thing-after-another type of stories: shaky relationships at home, a lack of funds, a big move and a job that fell through soon after, few friends and no family that could help. I listened to him as he very matter-of-factly told me how he ended up where he was. To be honest, I wondered about how stable his mental health was, but rather than sit in judgement I decided simply to be curious and listen to his story.
One thing that was clear is that Kenneth had hope. He told me how *interested* had had become in things since he had become homeless. He wondered more about how the economy works, how housing works, how the various service providers across the city do their work and what they offer. He told me how he felt like he finally had time to think about himself, his motivations, why he thought the way he did about himself and the world. He told me he started reading the Bible and he had lots of questions and good observations about what he had been reading.
I had given him socks and a water, which is how our conversation started, and I told him a little bit about AfterHours. I wanted to be sure he knew about the various smaller resources available to homeless folks that newcomers don't always know about, so I started listing them off and asking if he knew about them. In this back and forth about service providers he said the most interesting thing I've heard from someone in awhile: "I have kind of started thinking about the city as a garden, and right now what I'm doing is trying to find all Trees of Life in the urban garden." What an amazing way to explore the world!
Today, on World Homelessness Day, my hope is that AfterHours finds those Trees of Life. I hope that we can serve as loving gardeners spreading fertilizer through love and tending to all the plants and creatures who call the garden home, even if they don't have a stable place in it. Maybe some day we can even plant a lasting tree somewhere in this garden. If you want to help sustain AfterHours' work in the garden, I hope you'll consider making a donation today. Make a sustaining monthly gift and consider yourself a real professional composter!
