Hope in The Eyes of a Summer Student

Hello, my name is Walter. I'm the summer student in the Employment Centre here at the Mustard Seed.

Recently Desiree, my neighbor, and I had an interesting discussion about hope, the topic of which has been a recurring theme for me this summer.  She told me of her encounter on the previous day, on the streets of Calgary where she had witnessed humanity in its most savage, and depraved form.  Two men had, without reasonable prompting, proceeded to pummel another man in the face. The police eventually arrived to break up the crowd, but with tempers flaring, their arrival only seemed to make things worse.

These kinds of angry street scenes seem to be common occurrences during my stay.    From my open window downtown I regularly hear bouts of drunken rage, nicely garnished with horrific swear words and slurred threats.

Many of our guests have had traumatic life experiences, witnessed brutal and inhuman acts of injustice and lived in a violent world where alcohol is seen as the only logical form of escape.  After living in such overbearing circumstances, I wonder if there ever comes a point in which a person can no longer be helped with his or her burden.   When is that point reached in which they’ve almost lost their defining traits of humanity and simply become instinctive rage-induced beings?  Many would argue that there is always a glimmer of hope in every human.  Yet time and time again we seem to have visitors at our door who never change.  They keep coming back where they erupt into explosions of rage over minor things, inflict unnecessary physical and emotional pain on others, and they seem to have withdrawn completely from the consequences of their actions.  Can someone reach that point of no return?  Or will there always be a glimmer of hope?  I don’t claim to know the answer; I don’t think humans can know the answer.

What seems to matter though is the way we react.  I can’t judge the reactions of those on the scene that weekend.  Yet I strongly believe that harsh reactions go against everything the Mustard Seed believes in.  We convey hope in our actions:  if we are disrespectful to guests it may be interpreted that he or she is a hopeless cause, and when we show love then we project hope. 

Maybe the question of hope doesn’t lie in whether or not humans can reach a point of no return but, instead, whether or not the people around these “hopeless causes” will act in a way that cultivates hope in their souls. During my time here I’ve realized that The Mustard Seed is on the forefront of projecting hope to the hopeless, yet there is always room for improvement.  We should never stop wondering whether or not we’re growing hope or tearing it down with our actions. 

Ask yourself, in your daily interactions are you being hopeful and loving with the people who least deserve it? 


- Walter

Clothed In Confidence

Hi, I'm Laura U. I'm an employment coach at The Mustard Seed in Calgary and this is my first time on the blog. I was assigned as Sandra’s Employment Coach a few weeks ago and met with her for the first time soon after. She sat with me in the intake room, and I asked to hear her story.

“Oh, my story is sad, sad,” she whispered. ”In my country there is too much war”.

I left it at that, sensing she would rather not go further. However, I did learn that Sandra is from Uganda and came to Calgary to find work.

“I need to find confidence to interact with people in a job”, she told me. “Can you help me find confidence?”

I told her I would try.

One of our first steps toward confidence is being taken today. We are going to Making Changes, a not-for-profit agency that outfits women with professional clothing for the workplace.

We arrive in the afternoon and Sandra’s eyes widen as she takes in the place, which is set up like a clothing boutique. Racks of clothing fill the room, one corner is stacked high with shoes, and a standing coat hanger dangles with purses. Another shelf is covered with brand-new cosmetics.

We are paired with a volunteer stylist who leaps to action, handing Sandra dress pants in eggplant and khaki. Then shirts in bright colors and soft fabrics are brought out. Sandra receives each item with stunned graciousness, her eyes full of light. She says little, but she is beaming.

Sandra steps into the dressing room, and our stylist looks at me and says, “She is wonderful.” She is awed, as I am, by Sandra. She shines.

In a world torn by war, oppression, and violence, Uganda is no exception. It would seem that the brutal reality of war would harden one’s heart. Often, however, as I and others in the Employment Centre have seen, it has the opposite effect. In some individuals, the need for God grows stronger. Sandra had told me in the car on the way to Making Changes that she prays a lot. She has to pray a lot, she says. It is a means of survival. Sandra has kept the hope planted by Christ, and it shows.

We prepare to leave Making Changes. Sandra fills out a survey, and when asked if she is now ready to enter the workplace with confidence, she checks “strongly agree”.

In the car on the way home she tells me that she has read in Scripture that God has good plans for His children. A few more times she whispers it: “Good plans”. Her confidence in God’s goodness has renewed my own. And with that, we ride back toward downtown Calgary - clothed in the confidence that comes from trusting Him.

What is Justice?

What is Justice?
Have you ever considered the word “justice”?

Here’s how the dictionary defines it:
jus•tice noun 1.: The quality of being just; righteousness, equitableness, or moral rightness: to uphold the justice of a cause. 2. The administering of deserved punishment or reward. (Dictionary.com)

The Bible talks about justice in a lot of different ways:

Learn to do good; seek justice, correct oppression; bring justice to the fatherless, plead the widow’s cause. Isaiah 1:17

But let justice roll down like waters And righteousness like an ever-flowing stream. Amos 5:24

But what does all this talk about justice really mean for us? Administer punishment to the person we see littering? Go pleading for the widows to our government officials? Can we turn on a tap and see justice flow out like water? How does justice actually work? What does it look like?

Theologian Walter Brueggemann writes, “covenant members who practice justice and righteousness are to be active advocates for the poor and marginalized; that’s how we love God, by actively loving our neighbor.” Civil rights activist Cornel West says, “Never forget that justice is what love looks like in public.”

God’s justice is all about equality. The invitation of the Gospel is to live in such a way that aims to correct the inequalities in our community; sharing resources, knowledge, and opportunity. I like how the prophet Amos says, “Let justice roll down like waters.” The neat thing about water is that it spreads out equally wherever it is; it fills all areas in the same way. This is how I imagine justice to look- like water in a pond, there may be an uneven bottom, but the top is level; equal, all the areas of the pond are filled with water. Water doesn’t judge the bottom of the pond, which nook or cranny is worthy of being filled, it just fills everything up equally.

Perhaps that is how justice should work today. Loving our neighbor like water filling a pond; not judging the worthiness of the neighbor, just filling each one up with love and justice equally.

The following is a link to a video about Justice. It asks us: “If justice and injustice were embodied by humans, what would they have to say to us? Whose voice would sound more familiar?”

Have a look HERE to find out.