Planned Parenthood / Stopping to have the conversation

On my way back from yoga on Wednesday morning a woman stood outside a Planned Parenthood clinic in the block adjacent to our condo building, in a bright orange vest with the name tag "Volunteer Greeter".  I slowed down my stride and said "Thanks for being here."  She said back to me "Thanks for taking care of yourself and going to yoga."

Her response caused me to stop and have a conversation with her.  Instead of stopping to smell the roses I found myself stopping to have the conversation.  It might have been that the reading at yoga inspired me to Live in the Moment AND it was definitely that one of the value driven issues I put my energy is to make sure that women have choices about their bodies.  When I hear that someone might be defunding Planned Parenthood my inclination is to send them even more money.  I once told someone "abortion rights are one issue I would go to the mat for."

We talked for about 10 minutes about our experiences, about friends who had to have abortions before they were legal in the United States, about protesters outside this clinic, and we connected in a way that is how I define my theological development.  When I have conversations with people like this, that cause me to grow, and transform, and reaffirm my beliefs and values, then my spiritual development has happened.  It does not have to be inside a sanctuary or fellowship or church for this to happen.  It can happen outside a Planned Parenthood clinic.

I did not catch her name, but next Wednesday on my way back from yoga, if she is greeting people again, I will make sure to get her name and ask how to get on the list to volunteer.  I will stop and have the conversation.

Here is the Leonard Cohen quote my yoga teacher read on Wednesday and I apologize in advance if the swear word offends anyone (this is why I placed it at the bottom and not at the top):

Donating leftover wedding food to the Homeless Shelter in Waltham

OK, been gone for a pretty long time from posting blogs.  Mostly because Facebook has become my venue for sharing my life.  Today while driving back from Bristol Lodge in Waltham I decided that I want to get back to blogging.

The wedding of the year was held at Friendly Crossways over this past weekend.  That will be the topic of another blog post.  We had quite a bit of food leftover that we transported back in 4 of our cars and 3 others dropped stuff by our house.

I am in general a very thrifty person so I sat and tried to figure out what I could return to stores.  I did return some things to Wegman's and did not realize that they could not use some of the things again.  It broke my heart to watch them pour a gallon of orange juice down the drain.  I learned my lesson there.  I may have gotten some money back because Wegman's has such good customer service, but the waste was discouraging.  I may approach Wegman's to change this rule and at least donate it to some needy place that would take it.

At First Parish in Lexington we often take leftover food to a homeless shelter called Bristol Lodge in Waltham.  I loaded up dozens of bagels, full boxes of snacks, cream cheeses, plastic cups, and a bag of 20 oranges.  As I climbed down the stairs to the shelter, I was greeted very warmly by the man in charge, Tony.  I asked if he would take these items, and he jumped at the opportunity.  By the time I returned to my car to get the rest of the items, there were two men already waiting to help me carry things down the stairs.  Curtis and John, I think are homeless men who help out at the shelter.  Tony was so personable, friendly, welcoming and in the end we talked for a few minutes about my daughter's wedding.

It was so heart warming to see the space they were creating for men down on their luck.  I asked if I could make a big pot of soup and bring it over and he said yes.  I asked him what were the times that he really needs help and it is at 5pm in the afternoon when men start arriving.  I cannot help tomorrow, but I will be there starting next week on a regular basis.  I am taking 3 dozen eggs we have leftover from the wedding over tomorrow and the unused chocolate bars from the s'mores adventure.  I was reluctant to bring some things today since I was unsure about what they take, because of the Wegman's experience.

Coming back from the UU General Assembly I was determined to get more active and not just talk about social action and justice.  Bristol Lodge will be on my calendar on a regular basis.

If you have extra food from events, they accept donations of all kinds from 2:30-4:30 every afternoon.  They also could use help to serve at 5pm, and Tony said the hardest thing to do is keep the kitchen clean so I would imagine they could use help cleaning up.  Anybody want to join me throwing some energy at Bristol Lodge?  Let me know!