One of the ways I nourish and sustain myself in this work is through the inspiration provided by others on this path. I’ve found that those who provide me with the most inspiration are people who:
- have deep spiritual or religious convictions
- live lives of simplicity amongst the community they ‘serve’
- have integrity and who ‘walk their talk’
- take risks and often go against the flow
- are very human
- are working with those who are on the fringes of society
- love very very deeply
- have learned how to keep their heart open in the midst of pain and suffering
Here are some of the people who most inspire me. Who inspires you? Who do you inspire?
Dorothy Day, co-founder (with Peter Maurin) of the Catholic Worker Movement
- The Catholic Worker Movement
- Book: Selected Writings of Dorothy Day
- Movie: Entertaining Angels (Hollywood version of her life but I think it captures the essence)
Mother Antonia, a Catholic sister who has lived the past 25 years in a cell at La Mesa inTijuana, Mexico, one of Mexico’s most notorious prisons, caring for the inmates.
- WIE Article: Sacrifice is the Language of Love
- Book: The Prison Angel: Mother Antonia’s Journey from Beverly Hills to a Life of Service in a Mexican Jail
Father River Sims is an ordained priest in the American Catholic Apostolic Tradition and a monk in the Order of Christian Workers who lives and works in the Polk neighborhood of San Francisco.
Temenos Catholic Worker is a not-for-profit ministry that provides support to homeless youth in the Polk Street Neighborhood of San Francisco. The ministry is carried out in the spirit of Jesus of Nazareth and in the Catholic Worker tradition of Dorothy Day and Peter Maurin.
This past Spring, I hit a point where I urgently needed guidance in my work with the homeless. I knew I needed to talk to someone who was also walking this path and who could guide me from direct experience. I didn’t know anyone who fit this bill! I called out to the Divine to guide me to such a person. That day, I found and connected with Father River and although we are from different faith backgrounds, we share common values and a very similar approach. One of the things I most appreciate about him is his passionate commitment to living a life of simplicity as part of the community he serves. Please check out his work at www.temenos.org.
In the Media:
STREET MINISTRY: FATHER CHRISTIAN RIVER SIMS TENDS TO THE CITY’S HOMELESS, JUNKIES AND SEX WORKERS
