I have a date

There is a plan. On October 19th I will be leaving for New Orleans. Sr. Ellen is going to fly down with me and stay for a couple of days. I spoke to one of the sisters down there today who sounded very welcoming. The plans are moving along!

I type this from my parents' home in Rhode Island over looking Narragansett Bay. It is a gift to have this long weekend, to spend time with my family before leaving for New Orleans. A month from now I will be far from Rhode Island, where I have lived most of my life, and from Philadelphia where I have lived for the past ten years. I know that I bring support from so many people with me, which makes it easier to go.

Well, I have been experimenting with this blog for a while now. It seems to be working but sometimes when I go to the page only the first entry comes up and I don't understand why. I think that I am finally ready to start giving out the blog address to anyone who is requesting that I keep in touch, or who might be interested in these occasional updates.

Unity of Greater New Orleans

The plan at this point is for me to work with the Unity of Greater New Orleans program, which is a housing first program that serves those who are homeless in New Orleans and a nearby county. In some ways it is similar to the work I have done at Drueding Center Project Rainbow, the transitional housing facility for homeless women with children where I am currently working in Philadelphia. In other ways it will be a completely new experience. I am hoping to leave the week of the 16th of October or at the latest the following week.

To get ready to go I have made myself doctor and dentist appointments, and have started sorting through my endless piles of papers which seem to accumulate so quickly. Next weekend I will go to Rhode Island to spend time with my family, since it is likely to be quite a while before I get up there again.

Many unknowns

There are still many unknowns, but Sr. Anne Marie spoke with a sister in New Orleans earlier this week and it seems that they are open to having me and that there is a ministry for me to work in which serves people of the Ninth Ward. I still do not know when I am leaving or any specific details. I think I am being invited to trust that things will work out; I don't really need to know all of the details right now. Even when we think we know when or how something will happen it does not necessarily happen that way. Two weeks ago I had not really even though that I would be offered the opportunity to go to New Orleans to work with hurricane survivors.

Invitation

Last week after feeling a little frustrated that I still had not found employment, a sense of peace came over my while praying. Something will work out. I stood with open hands.

When I met with Sr. Anne Marie, I had not expected this invitation. She asked if I would be willing to go New Orleans. Immediately I said yes. A year after Katrina so many people are still in dire need.

I still don't know when I will go, though I assume it will be relatively soon. I am not sure where I will go, except that I will most likely stay with another religious community.

Always I have thought, as religious we need to go where we are most needed. We are called to be with those who are most poor and who suffer greatly. I have thought that sometimes this may mean being away from the rest of the community, for the sake of the larger community, which includes every person and all of creation. Now I have the challenge of actually embracing and of doing my best to live what I believe.

Pray for me. Pray that I will find a community to stay with and minister with where I can somehow be helpful to hurricane victims and those who are experiencing poverty in New Orleans.