A Heart Full
Of this I am confident: I will look upon the goodness of God in the land of the living. ~Psalm 27:13The best stories spend time fiddling with our hearts.
One I was thinking of this week comes from Tattoos on the Heart,” by Gregory Boyle. He is speaking of the time shortly after he had taken over as pastor for the Dolores Mission Parish, the poorest church in Los Angeles archdiocese. It was tucked within the largest public housing development west of the Mississippi, with 8 active gangs present when Boyle took over.
In this book, Boyles writes of the time when 100 homeless men began sleeping on the floor of the church. No matter what carpet cleaner or incense they used on Sunday mornings, there was always a faint smell reminder of the men’s stay that lingered. People weren’t happy. The undeniable smell had them talking about churching elsewhere.