the sermon

 Rick wrote a few weeks ago about the importance of the safety that is provided at Central for the unsheltered community of Galveston. We are, in more ways than one, a sanctuary for the mind and body each Tuesday, Thursday, and Sunday. While not enough, it keeps people moving forward under impossible conditions, and it is beautiful in the way that caring for another person, especially a stranger, opens your heart.  

 Yet there is something else happening at Central that is also fundamental to the human condition. Yes, we are an access point for high quality healthcare, and other things that we all need. Yet I was reminded in the sermon yesterday about the healing power of our shared dignity and worth. Like safety, dignity and value gets affirmed and reaffirmed with every kind conversation, meal, shower, and load of laundry. In this space we are partners, the sheltered and the unsheltered, the sick and the well, in the recognition that allowing people to live and survive without meeting even their basic needs harms us all, demoralizes us all, dehumanizes us all. This is the message we send.
 
 The future may be unknowable, but the present moment is full of power and potential to value each other. Once we all walk out the door, the magic may be gone, but our solidarity lingers.