A poem comprised of words from Servant Partners interns in Vancouver, and compiled by longtime Vancouver resident and writer James Witwicki
Often, when folks near and dear to us are suffering, or are in transition, we find ourselves at a loss for words. We don't know what to say. The following is a contributed word poem with words taken from my interviews with former Servant Partners interns, some of whom are on staff at the Vancouver site, some of whom still live in the Downtown Eastside of Vancouver (DTES), and the rest.
What can we say?
What is broken in relationship
must be mended in
relationship.
I keep coming back to that.
Here I feel automatically that
I don't have to put my
guard up. I can show
my brokenness, my weaknesses
and all my fears to the people here
who are
able to
do this for me.
What have we seen?
When I expected to find lethargy
in this inner city neighbourhood
I found vibrancy instead.
We see compassion in these kids
and youth, in their approach
to each other.
They're learning to resolve things
to reconcile.
Transformation
in the way the youths
react
and interact
with each other.
What have we learned?
Mostly university grads (even me!), we
learned that you are to maintain
a façade, that you have
to seem competent.
In the DTES I don't need to pretend
to be someone else
I can show my true self.
It is more true to myself
to let down the façade
and
let people see
my brokenness.
What have we missed?
I didn't have those thing
in my childhood...
...reconciliation...compassion
cheerful acceptance...forgiveness
I've been just slowly
learning
what it means
to fall down, get up,
fall down in front of
everybody.
We give space and set boundaries.
We find freedom
in weakness
in abundance
in fruitfulness...
And now we hope.
Many in this neighbourhood
need to be encouraged
to reach out
and build relationships and build
community. And they do!
We find ways
to repair brokenness
in our own families.
And now we're thankful.
We’ve eagerly empowered
each other and
our neighbours.
There is a tension here between a present God and
present suffering.
Kingdom communities here do
bear fruit.
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