“For those of us at City House, our service is listening and

our action is reflection.”

When I was first asked to consider this position at City House, last summer, I was not immediately drawn to it. Fortunately, some of you saw that this position could be a good fit for me—that my life mission and the City House mission were in close alignment.  That became clear one morning as I witnessed a volunteer providing spiritual listening one morning at the Basilica of St. Mary drop in center.  After that it became easy to say “yes.”

I come to this work with an eclectic background—church ministry, non-profit work with men coming from prison, construction supply sales, and a lot of time attempting conflict resolution.  And I intend to bring all aspects of me to City House, especially those parts I have marginalized in myself—the minister, the musician, the clown, and the dreamer.     

My training has taught me to seek balance between action and contemplation, to bring reflection into service.  For those of us at City House, our service is listening and our action is reflection.  This is a rare kind of ministry we are doing and it is deeply needed in our broken world.  Our work heals social wounds, and we are all invited to be agents of that healing and the ones being healed.

I feel a little bit like Jonah.  God called him to go deliver a tough message in Nineveh and he immediately boarded a ship going the opposite direction.  Yet in the end, after he was swallowed up by the whale, he ended up in Nineveh, just where God wanted him. So here I am. From all the signs I can read, this is where God wants me and it feels right.  And I look forward to meeting each and every one of you and learning where you have landed in your life.