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Hear me, you don’t need to be strong all the time. You don't have to be OK all the time.  It's OK to not be OK. You don’t need to be right all the time. You won’t have to have all the answers.  If you pretend to be OK, all that and all together all the time, you make it hard for people to help you.  Let people help you, let people love you.  You see, the smartest people ask the most questions and ask for help.  It's not stupid to ask for help, it's not weak to be vulnerable, it's called growing up.

For the prophetic leader and worker serving in the world today, ministry is often driven by a big, beautiful vision of what a redemptive future could or even should look.  In the midst of the brokenness we see around us, there is a sense, a dream and a hope for the potential and the possible for your organization or your community. 

[but] what do we do, when the reality clashes with the vision? What do we do with the dissonance between the dream and the real?

The gospel reminds me daily of the spiritual poverty into which I was born and also of the staggering generosity of Christ towards me.  Such reminders instill in me both a felt connection to the poor and a desire to show them the same generosity that has been lavished on me.  When ministering to the poor with these motivations, I not only preach the gospel to them through word and deed, but I reenact the gospel to my own benefit as well.

Father we pray for a world where peace is built with justice, and where justice is guided by love
We pray for the redemption of souls of both victim and perpetrator, for those who commit themselves to the forgiveness of sins

A couple of weeks ago, I was approaching the end of my shift and a woman who I see every Saturday walked into the lobby. I greeted her with a “Hi, how are you?” and she actually acknowledge me.

“I was paid yesterday and today I’m out of money.” So I asked her for her name.

“Mary,” she said

“Well Mary, I’m Tim and I’ll pray for you, ok?"

She immediately brightened up and said “Oh, thank you so much!” and then went to sit in the cafe area. I didn’t see her for a week or so, but this past weekend I saw Mary sitting in the cafe area.