It Is Not What You Know, But Who You Know

I have heard this saying many times in my life.  It seems ironically sad that, to my recollection, it has always been used in the context of personally getting ahead. I spend a considerable amount of time thinking about social issues both here in the United States, where I call home, as well as issues throughout the world.  My main thoughts are about the policies that governments could implement to bring justice to these issues.  While recently pondering governmental policies and social justice, out of nowhere, the saying popped into my head.  Suddenly I realized that this saying applies to more than getting ahead in the world--it also applies to social justice issues.  This forced me to acknowledge that, more often than not, I use my thinking on how government policy can affect change as an excuse to not be relational.  This is led me to think about some recent experiences and conversations.

My Friend Aziz

I met Aziz a little more than a year ago while participating in a dual narrative tour that his company Mejdi conducts in the Middle East.  Aziz is a peacemaker by trade and after spending a week with him I considered him to be a walking encyclopedia, or, to use the parlance of our times, a Wikipedia, for Israel /Palestine!  I imagined that Aziz probably read endlessly to gain this knowledge, and I admired that trait of his character.  It would not be until more than a year later that he told me that he really did not read that much.  I remember him saying that people are books and that he likes reading people rather than books.  In other words he spent all or most of his time in relationships and that is mostly how he learned the stuff he knew.  This was really convicting to me.  Until then, I never thought you could be incredibly knowledgeable about something without reading about it.  I am so much more comfortable sitting in a recliner with a book to learn about things rather than building relationships.

My Trip To New Jerusalem In Philadelphia

Since then, I have tried to take my conversation with Aziz to heart and step out and build relationships.  For the last year I have been a part of a small group with my church that focuses on social justice issues.  Having visited The Simple Way a year ago and really enjoying my experience, I decided to lead a trip there with our small group this year.  Describing the Simple Way could take an entire blog post all of its own, so I’ll just say that the Simple Way self-describes as “a web of subversive friends conspiring to spread the vision of 'Loving God, Loving People, and Following Jesus' in our neighborhoods and in our world.”  The highlight of that trip would be our last stop at New Jerusalem. 

New Jerusalem is a drug rehabilitation home that was started by a nun named Sister Margaret.  The entire program is based around community and relational living.  It was amazing to see the support that each recovering addict gave to each other as well as to hear the harrowing stories of how they got to where they are.  It was not difficult to see that it was because of who these addicts knew, not what they knew, along with the relationships of the staff with those recovering was the reason that New Jerusalem boasts a 60% recovery rate—nearly double that of most inpatient drug recovery facilities. 

Joseph’s House

For close to four months now my wife, Hélène, and I have been visiting and volunteering at Joseph's House in Washington DC.  Joseph’s House is a house that serves as a hospice for those dying of AIDS or other terminal illnesses who do not have another place to go.  We got connected to Joseph’s House through a program that our church calls Second Saturday Serve.  Every second Saturday our church has service projects where you can just show up and participate.  The person who had arranged for us to visit Joseph’s House was going to be out of town and asked if Hélène and I could lead this service opportunity.  We jumped in and since then have been blown away by the work being done at Joseph’s House.

This is another place that is entirely centered on relationships.  Our service project for Joseph’s House that first month was to help them clean their kitchen.  I still remember walking into the house and having an immediate sense of peace.  I also remember being excited to clean the kitchen, but also pretty terrified about meeting people with HIV.  While Patty, the executive director who also lives in the house with her husband, sat down with us to explain what we would be doing, that is not primarily what I remember.  I remember her telling us that we needed to be a part of the community there, that while we were there to work, it was not so much about the task at hand but experiencing community with those in the house and community within our group.  I also remember her sharing with us about Jose, a resident there, who was dying as we worked.  We found out the following day that he passed several hours after we left.

Some Final Thoughts

My friend Aziz has not succeeded in creating Peace in Israel/Palestine.  Forty percent of those who walk through the doors of New Jerusalem will not get clean.  Joseph’s House can only house 9 people in the U.S. city with the highest rate of HIV infection of any in the country! However, Aziz, Sister Margaret and the staff at New Jerusalem, and Patty and the staff at Joseph’s House are not pondering how government policies can affect change in areas of social justice.  Nor are they spending countless hours with their noses buried in books.  They are doing the dirty, uncomfortable work of building relationships to affect change.  Instead of pointing fingers at the problem they are trying to be part of the solution.  And frankly, to be a part of a solution requires a really close look at who you know.

What next?

I frequently talk with my pastor about the poor and my beliefs that our church is not doing enough in our city to address their plight.  By saying that our church does not do enough to address the condition of the poor in our city I indict myself since I am part of the church.  How can I know what to do for the poor, if my answer to the question, “Who do you know that is poor?” is, “Nobody”?

In the spirit of stepping out from behind the comfort of my books, I have committed to lead a “mission trip” in DC this coming spring.  I put quotes “mission trip” because all that we are going to be doing is spending 72 hours on DC streets as homeless people.  The thought of this is pretty terrifying for me, but I think there is no better way to understand someone than to take some steps in their shoes, which is so difficult and challenging. Instead, most of us, especially me, want to take the easy road of using what I know to accomplish tasks.  A have a friend named Jill who happens to be a social worker.  The following is a quote from an e-mail I recently received from her, “I have so many volunteers that want to stuff envelopes or paint houses but no one wants to actually just sit and talk to someone.”  Until recently, I was one of those people Jill describes so astutely.  But after meeting people like Aziz, Patty, or Sister Margaret, I am no longer content to sit home and read books and ponder intellectual solutions for the world’s problems.  I want to read people instead of books!