Article

I thought that I would put up here some of the other articles that the other staff members wrote for our latest newsletter. Here is Kurt's-

I must begin by thanking God for giving me the opportunity to work here this year and what a privilege it has been to this point. The work here is very humbling and the abundance of
grace that surrounds the Andre House is inspiring. Whether it be serving the many people that use our services or interacting with our many volunteers day-in and day-out, the relationships that are beginning to emerge provide a comfortable and positive environment for my and our success and happiness here. It has really been a blessing to grow with my fellow staff members and come to fully understand the person that I am as well, which ultimately helps me grow. I have found that even though the work throughout a given week can be challenging due to our long hours, most always I am somehow reminded, through grace, that God is with
me and is taking care of me. One role I thoroughly enjoy here is coordinating a soupline.

I was given the chance to coordinate Tuesday’s soupline, which is spaghetti. With the help of our many regular volunteers I have truly found my niche here. No matter how many daily volunteers that come Tuesday, too few or too many, the meal always gets served. That is truly a testament to the dedication and hardworking mentality of our volunteers. The atmosphere I hope to provide on Tuesdays is one that is easy-going, welcoming, understanding, and hardworking. When you balance serious behavior with some humor, I have always found people to be relaxed and genuine. These people have become my extended family, and it’s been a blast so far. Learning their life stories and who they are allows me to learn each day. I might have already graduated college but the learning experience never ends, and for that I am very thankful. It is my constant effort to be aware of all that is present around me and how I may
benefit and learn from others. God has continued to bless me with this wonderful opportunity, and I hope that I am always appreciative of that and mindful of the chances I get. I hope to return all that I can from the abundance of grace that He has bestowed upon me.

I must extend a huge thank you to all of our volunteers and benefactors, because you continue to keep this place running like a well-oiled machine. Without your help, we would not be able to do what we do each and every day. I love what we are about and that is to love one another as God loves us, plain and simple. I continue to keep all of you in my prayers each day: in thanksgiving for your lives, your health and happiness, and that you may always be aware of God’s presence in your lives. I would like to share a prayer with you that I find to truly open my eyes and be thankful for all that it is that God has given me and us:

“My Lord God, I have no idea where I am going.
I do not see the road ahead of me.
I cannot know for certain where it will end.
Nor do I really know myself, and the fact that I think that I am following your will does not mean that I am actually doing so.
But I believe that the desire to please you does in fact please you.
And I hope I have that desire in all that I am doing.
I hope that I will never do anything apart from that desire.
And I know that if I do this you will lead me by the right road though I may know nothing about it.
Therefore will I trust you always though I may seem to be lost and in the shadow of death.
I will not fear, for you are ever with me, and you will never leave me to face my perils alone.”
- Thomas Merton, “Thoughts in Solitude”

Goulash

I get the feeling that people don’t really have an idea of what goulash is. Goulash is the main dish that we make and serve on Saturday nights, the night that I run the soupline. Bottom line up front: goulash is glorified chili-mac. We make enough for 600 servings, so try to imagine the ingredient list before reading on.

40 pounds of ground beef
40 pounds of elbow macaroni
As many onions, carrots, celery, squash, mushrooms, peppers, corn, tomatoes, and other random vegetables as we can find
4 #10 cans of tomato puree (26.5 pounds)
4 #10 cans of tomato sauce (26.5 pounds)
Spices: ¾ c black pepper, 1 c garlic powder, ½ c oregano, 1 c salt, ½ c thyme, ¼ rosemary, ¼ c parsley, 1/8 c sage, ¾ c crushed red pepper

Think that you have a pot that can fit all of that?

Every now and then we’ll try something different. Last night I put a few pineapple bits in the goulash that the staff eats for “Hawaiian Goulash.” One of these days we’re going to try a white sauce instead of the regular tomato sauce.

Crackheads are people too

Our religious brother on staff here at Andre House, Richard, always gives the reflection for Mass on Fridays. He always does such a great job of it, but this week he had a great one that I felt the need to share. Brother Richard always brings me back down to earth with his spiritual teaching and this week was no different.

We go through our daily lives here and we deal with a lot of crap. There are fights in the street, drug deals in our parking lot (the police tell us that there is now some ruthless Honduran syndicate operating in our area), and in general a lot of trouble. As I have noted, it is easy to get cynical when seeing the same people do the same foul things every day. But despite all of this, Brother Richard reminded us in his reflection that these people- the violent, the addicted, the despairing- they are all people before anything else and they deserve our love and attention because of that. Every human life is more than valuable, it is priceless. I myself easily loose sight of that fact, so to hear someone remind me of it helps a great deal.

Nomination

Wednesday I was calling the congressional offices out here in Phoenix to get updated on the status of my nomination applications. Since I left West Point, I have to get renominated by a member of Congress. Since I am now a resident of Arizona, I applied to Senator Jon Kyl, Senator John McCain, and Congressman Ed Pastor.

So anyway, I was calling around to see why I hadn't gotten notification of interview times before the respective Academy Review Boards. Pastor's office said that they didn't want to interview me but would rather just review my application packet and probably give me a nomination. That was pretty good news. I next called John McCain's office. The staff person there told me that the review board looked at my packet and they too don't want to interview me. The difference is that they're just going to go ahead and give me the nomination because I've already spent two years at West Point. That was even better news! I don't have to interview or compete with anyone, I'm just going to be handed a nomination.

That’s one little hurdle out of the way in my efforts to get accepted at West Point [again]. Next I have to complete the West Point Admissions paperwork and take a PT test.

Today's reflection

I didn't sit down and write out a big long and well thought out reflection for today. While I usually type up something and then paste it directly here, I'll instead paste the Gospel reading for today and leave the reflection up to you. It's pretty easy to see- Jesus speaks directly to our work at Andre House. This is a great piece of encouragement for me.

From the Gospel of St. Luke:

On a Sabbath Jesus went to dinner at the home of one of the leading Pharisees. He said to the host who invited him, “When you hold a lunch or a dinner, do not invite your friends or your brothers or sisters or your relatives or your wealthy neighbors, in case they may invite you back and you have repayment. Rather, when you hold a banquet, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, the blind; blessed indeed will you be because of their inability to repay you. For you will be repaid at the resurrection of the righteous.”

The Great People Migration

Right now we are experiencing a bit of a natural phenomenon. Just as animals migrate, so do people. We call them “snowbirds.” As one of our staff likes to say, “there are rich snowbirds and there are poor snowbirds.” The rich variety have homes in Phoenix and then homes in a northern part of the state like Sedona or Flagstaff. During the summer, they live in the northern locations so that they can avoid the extreme heat of the desert areas. During the “winter,” they move south to their other houses for the warmer temperatures.

While the homeless don’t have two houses, they nevertheless move from north to south at this time of year. So at this time we are seeing a lot of new faces and all the new trouble that goes along with those new people. Most of our clientele we see on a daily basis and they all know how we operate (and the best ways to take advantage of us, but that is another subject). Our new guests have no idea what is going on and initially have a hard time accepting our rules, which are easy to misconstrue as asinine and unnecessary. Nevertheless, life goes on as it usually does.

Sunset

If anybody ever gets to come out here and visit, I now know one of the things that you need to experience before you leave- the Phoenix sunset. One of my housemates and coworkers, Hoa, and I went to South Mountain Park this past Thursday to watch the sunset. We didn't actually make it on time and ended up seeing the sun go down from the car, but we were up on the mountain for twilight and got to see the city at night. I have never professed being someone who likes cities (quite the opposite actually), but it was really quite neat to look out on all of it. It blows my mind to think that I was looking out on millions of people, all going about thier own lives.