Sunday, February 5, 2006
Who's sheltered?
Tom Heinen reports in the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel on what happened at an Episcopal Church last November.
Alfred Doolittle gives one explanation of "middle-class morality" in My Fair Lady. Might Mr. Heinen likewise use the term to elicit nods of knowing superiority from his audience? As for what happened at the church,
About what I'd expect, but not Fr. Myrick.
No mention if he also sought to learn why his years of preaching the Gospel did not get the same point across.
What, though, of the beggars I run into, from Wisconsin Avenue to Guatemala, who say they're hungry but turn down food; they will accept only cash. ¶ 2/05/2006 01:47:00 PM
Father William Myrick got more than he bargained for one Sunday when he disguised himself as a homeless man and begged for coins at his own church in a small Wisconsin community where middle-class morality rarely bumps into haunting specters of poverty.
Alfred Doolittle gives one explanation of "middle-class morality" in My Fair Lady. Might Mr. Heinen likewise use the term to elicit nods of knowing superiority from his audience? As for what happened at the church,
Most walked silently past. Some detoured to a side entrance.A few contributed to his nearly $23 take for two Sunday services, including a woman who gave $10. Half a dozen invited him in from the cold. No one asked if he was ill.
About what I'd expect, but not Fr. Myrick.
That out-of-vestment experience on a chilly, misty November morning unsettled Myrick so much that he rallied religious leaders to create an ecumenical emergency shelter system in Walworth County that rotates among eight area churches on a weekly basis.
No mention if he also sought to learn why his years of preaching the Gospel did not get the same point across.
Myrick, 58, began his deception innocently.A few parishioners dress up as their favorite saints as a teaching tool for the church's celebration of All Saints Day on the Sunday after the Nov. 1 feast day. Myrick figured that he'd go as Lazarus, the poor man in Christ's parable who longed for scraps of food at the gate of a feasting rich man.
What, though, of the beggars I run into, from Wisconsin Avenue to Guatemala, who say they're hungry but turn down food; they will accept only cash. ¶ 2/05/2006 01:47:00 PM
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When we were in Madison on our honeymoon, we were approached by a gentleman who said he was a Vietnam vet and homeless. He asked for money.
My husband - who works in Downtown Milwaukee, is a public transit user, and who attends Mass at a Downtown parish - sees a lot of beggars.
He told this man he'd offer him food and the man accepted. My husband disappeared into a Taco Bell and the man emerged with two huge bags of food. We saw him later with the bags considerably lighter.
I think the only thing you can do is offer them food and if they turn it down pray for them or direct them to outreach ministries. I think it'd be worse to feed a bad addiction with cash than to refuse them outright.
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My husband - who works in Downtown Milwaukee, is a public transit user, and who attends Mass at a Downtown parish - sees a lot of beggars.
He told this man he'd offer him food and the man accepted. My husband disappeared into a Taco Bell and the man emerged with two huge bags of food. We saw him later with the bags considerably lighter.
I think the only thing you can do is offer them food and if they turn it down pray for them or direct them to outreach ministries. I think it'd be worse to feed a bad addiction with cash than to refuse them outright.
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