Harlan

We’re at our very best when we come together and do our mission. We experience the best of who we are, and see – perhaps – a glimpse of who God knows we can become.

Isn’t it strange that princes and kings, And clowns that caper in sawdust rings, And common people like you and me Are builders for eternity? Each is given a bag of tools, A shapeless mass, a book of rules; And each must make – ere life is flown A stumbling block or a steppingstone. ~ More >

The Bible hints that in some way beyond our imagination our life’s legacy is permanent. ~ R. Paul Stevens Dear Friends, Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. I don’t give a dime! You read it right. For the past month I have joined dozens of people within More >

One man may hit the mark, another blunder; but heed not these distinctions.

Only from the alliance of the one, working with and through the other, are great things born.

~ Antoine de Saint-Exupery

Curly is generally irritated with city folk, but in a rare moment of quiet, he lets the wandering Mitch in on
his secret for contentment. “All you need to be happy is one thing.”

The neighborhoods we serve combine to create the second most culturally diverse community in the United States. We reside at the cross-road of nations and people groups, and the implications of this revelation speak deep into the heart of our mission.

What if we have it all wrong? What if we’ve bought into cultural thinking without thinking about it? What if we observe the norms just because that’s the way we’ve always done it?

An unfortunate by-product of our contemporary culture is a strong notion that it’s us against them. It’s time to replace this old, destructive, counterproductive notion with a not-so-new idea. We need each other. We are all stakeholders in the great enterprise of humanity. We are enriched by each other. We are interdependent, intercommunicating and in More >

The word “religion” typically leaves a bad taste in my mouth. Its bouquet has been tainted by a long record of intolerant, legalistic practitioners. Its many failures have been sensationalized by a media appetite that feasts on the menu of extremism. It’s been used to bully the weak, break the strong, harm the innocent and shame the broken.

What I do you cannot do; but what you do, I cannot do. The needs are great, and none of us, including me,
ever do great things. But we can all do small things, with great love, and together we can do something wonderful.
~ Mother Teresa of Calcutta