Category: General

“Nobody ever does that anymore…” Oh yes they do…


…and that’s why it’s important to keep telling the story!

Yesterday, something happened to me that reminded me of a neighbor’s story I had wanted to blog about…but never did. So, here I am telling both our stories.

Driving home yesterday, we found a wallet in the middle of our street.  It had a VISA card (unsigned!), card with their checking routing and account number listed, $125 in cash and several other store “customer cards.”  Using the man’s driver’s license and a bank teller card, we tracked the guy down through his local bank branch.  When we returned the wallet, he was thankful — and said something to the effect of, “Nobody these days would ever return a wallet – so thank you.”

Oh yes they do…and I can “raise you one.”

Our neighbor B. recently lost an envelope full of cash – about $200.  He was buying materials at Lowe’s, and set the envelope down while he was collecting his purchases.  (He had a valid reason for having cash in an envelope – I forget the details, but that’s not relevant.)

B. called around to each place he stopped along the way to see if anyone had found it.  He got a phone call from a man later that day, letting him know the envelope was safe.  B. arranged to pick the envelope from the man and his wife. B. was so excited to have found it – thinking there was no way anyone would ever return an envelope full of cash – that he planned on giving the man a reward for his actions.  He figured 20%, so was going to give the man $40 as a sign of gratitude.

When B. got to the man’s house, they exchanged pleasantries and laughed about the situation.  The man gave him the envelope – and told B. there was a little something in there for him.  This of course had B. intrigued – so he checked the envelope.  There was $240 in the envelope.  The man and his wife not only wanted to return the lost cash – but wanted to “go above and beyond” and pay it forward…literally.  So, they added $40 of their own to Bruce’s envelope.

B. was blown away. Here he was going to show his appreciation, and instead was met with generosity and hospitality.  When B. tried to return the cash, explaining that he was actually going to give a $40 reward, the man and his wife said “no, we want you to have this.  If you get a chance somewhere down the road, pay it forward and return the favor to someone else sometime.”

As I’m writing this story, I realize I could have slipped an extra $25 in the found wallet to be a part of B’s “paying it forward” network.  But, there’s always next time…

So next time you hear bad news in the media, or hear someone talking down on people “these days” as having no morals, ethics, or sense of community…tell B’s story and pay it forward…

Read this story please… You’ll be amazed at who attended this man’s funeral.  


Days before he was to move into apartment, Indy man dies alone, under a bridge. Wes Cunningham had no place to call home, but he had a family.  Check out this story on IndyStar.com: http://indy.st/1RrJkOv 

  

Labels mask the fullness of a human’s spirit. Wes wasn’t homeless – with “no place to call home,” in my opinion. If home is where the heart is, then the city streets were his home and many were his neighbors. Regrettable as his passing is, he clearly lived his life with intention and passion. Though he died alone, his loss was felt by many. Isn’t that how most of want to be remembered in the end!?

Fortunately, someone chose to tell Wes’ story. He died on the same weekend that Denver Hutt lost her battle with cancer. Her life and impact on Indianapolis were also celebrated in the news. Gladly, the media allowed us to learn of and appreciate how both of these leaders were an “inspiring example of how people can change the community when they are willing to engage and get their hands dirty” (from the article about Denver Hutt)…labels or not.

When we label someone “homeless” just because they choose to have another type of home than the rest of us, we run the risk of missing their full beauty, potential and gifts (as the term often comes with much prejudice, stigma and/or shame). Even when some may not have as much direct say in their living conditions, it still doesn’t do them justice to label them “homeless.”  

So be honest – would you have imagined this funeral turnout for a “homeless person” (hate that term)? 

“Smile at strangers. Be kind. Judge less. And hold the door.”
~ Denver Hutt, 2016

Sounds like Denver and Wes would have been good friends…

A Good Lie: How History Repeats Itself, Sometimes With Better Outcomes! Welcome “Lost Hoosiers of Syria…”


We watched a movie from 2014 last night that seemed so timely it was unreal. Here is the movie synopsis for “The Good Lie” from IMDB:

“A group of Sudanese refugees given the chance to resettle in America arrive in Kansas City, Missouri, where their encounter with an employment agency counselor forever changes all of their lives.”

The movie takes place in the Fall of 2001, just months after 9/11. The group of “lost boys” who settle in Kansas City were on the last plane out of Sudan before the US closed its Sudanese resettlement program because of fears that terrorists would find gaps in the program’s security and use it as a way to cross the US’ borders and unleash terrorism on our citizens.

Despite the political rhetoric and racist fearmongering, the movie tells the story of four orphaned children, who watched their entire family being massacred during their country’s bitter civil war.

“Consequently, they make an arduous and dangerous trek through the plains, enduring hardship, death and sacrifice all the way until they reach safety in a refugee camp in Ethiopia. Years later, these youths are among 3600 selected for resettlement in America… [They] must adjust to an alien culture even as the emotional baggage of their past haunts them. However, these newcomers, and their new friends . . . strive to understand each other in this new home, as they make peace with their histories in a challenge that will change all their lives.

 

This movie “unfolded” about events over a decade ago that I probably didn’t fully understand or appreciate at the time in the backdrop of 9/11. But, as if the universe wanted to flaunt the timely irony, these are the news stories from yesterday about events in the world, the US and nay, even our [great] State of Indiana:

“Gov. Pence suspends resettlement of Syrian refugees to Indiana following Paris terror attacks…”  [read more]

Unlike the suspension in 2001, it seems like some of us have learned our lesson, and are willing to challenge the government’s authority (or lack of authority) to act irrationally “in the name of public safety” (read: institutionalized racism and bigotry):

“Defying the governor, Indianapolis archbishop takes in Syrian refugees…” [read more]

I won’t even acknowledge the crap that ex-President-hopeful Donald Trump spewed…  Instead, I look forward to the following IMDB movie synopsis:

“A group of Syrian refugees given the chance to resettle in America arrive in Indianapolis, IN where their encounter with Hoosier Hospitality forever changes all of their lives. They must adjust to an alien culture and a racist Governor even as the emotional baggage of their past haunts them. However, these newcomers, and their new friends . . . strive to understand each other in this new home, as they make peace with their histories in a challenge that will change all their lives.

Fortunately, for the “Lost Hoosiers of Syria,” our State’s Archbishop may have learned a lesson from “The Good Lie.”  Like my own church (Broadway United Methodist), some Hoosiers haven’t given into fear but have instead chosen hope, compassion and hospitality:

Keep telling the story…