The Gateway.

I got a job as a relief worker at The Gateway a couple of weeks ago. It's a homeless shelter for men in downtown Toronto. To be honest, I was a little nervous going into the whole gig. I wasn't really sure what to expect. I really only knew that I wanted to work there because for some reason I think that Jesus would've probably hung out there. The first shift was, well...boring. It was a night shift in which pretty much nothing happened except for 'wake ups' (every half hour beginning at 4:30am) and breakfast in the morning (a great perk to this job is that I get fed). The next couple of shifts were pretty good though. In fact I've worked a total of four now and I originally thought that the 12 hour shifts would feel terribly long but so far they don't. I discussed this with one of the workers on Saturday and he described it as "it's like you live at home for a time and then just move here for the day and live". Really, that's what I do. I live there during the day and hang out with people. It is by far the greatest job I have ever had. I'm not just saying that because it sounds like I'm a slacker but it really is great to watch t.v. or play cards or chess with a guy my age who just got enough cash to move into his own place, or the guy from Winnipeg who has a wife and kids in the Philippines but needs to save enough money to pay back the government for dual citizenship issues. I also met Patrick, well I didn't really meet him. I was kind of scared to. He seemed a little rough around the edges at first but all of that went out the window when he almost overdosed on opium on Friday. I thought I was witnessing my first death but the ambulance got there pretty fast and I think he's okay. While that certainly wasn't a funny thing...a friend of Patricks (I assume) was just screaming the f-bomb at him for continuing to use. It was kind of funny. I also thought it was funny when his buddy was poking around his pockets looking for drugs so that the ambulance/police officers wouldn't bust him in the hospital. One of the workers asked him to get some gloves to do so-- I thought at first because it would be hygenic...I later realized it was because he didn't want him to get pricked by any needles.

I like The Gateway. The guys there are really nice and not the typical homeless men you might see outside union station (although some are...). Most of them want to work and have temp jobs but for whatever reason (drugs and alchohol addictions do come into play) can't get on their feet. I like these guys.

I think sometimes we're scared of poor people. Isn't that ridiculous? Isn't that the most ridiculous statement ever? But it's true. We don't know how to relate or how to talk to them (like they are different?). I think it's because we're trained to see poor people as invaluable...as people who don't contribute to society or the economy and therefore aren't important. Think about it. A person with a BMW vs. a homeless man with a shopping cart... whose more valuable? Who do we trust more?

I remember telling someone that I worked at a homeless shelter. They stopped and thought about it for a second and said, "you know a lot of them don't want to get jobs and want to be there"... I think that is the consensus of society. I also think that if that is our attitude... we've got a lot of reading and thinking to do.

The prophets say that God has a heart for the poor, the marginalized, the mistreated...those without a family. Isn't that a tremendous characteristic of God... to defend the orphan and widow, the alien and homeless?

Jesus says, "the poor you will always have with you but you will not always have me". At first you might read this passage and think that Jesus just wants some time with his peeps but I think there is a greater statement here. What if Jesus is saying that because you are my disciples you will be around the poor because that's where I live and they need to be loved.