Catherine's Cafe Vocation Blog

    “I am fighting the world and the devil by myself.”   “Community ends isolation.”   “…Jesus was led by the Spirit into the desert to be tempted by the devil... and, behold, angels came and ministered to him.” These quotes are from, respectively, a recent conversation with a woman in a homeless shelter, as she struggled with issues most of us handle routinely and without thought; the philosophy of Earthlinks, a Denver-based social enterprise providing safe space and community for people experiencing homelessness and poverty (earthlinks-colorado.org); and from Matthew 4:1-11 – the Gospel for the 1 st Sunday in Lent.   What, if anything, do they have in common? I think they represent a progression – from a place of ‘being stuck’ in self-reliance and individualism, (in this case born out of despair), to a recognition that we are relational beings created in the image and likeness of our loving and relational God, to a fullness of life...

I spend part of my time here in Denver volunteering at EarthLinks.  The operation is centered around a large urban garden nearby the Mile-High Stadium and includes a solid community of participants that work and break bread together.   While the primary goal of EarthLinks is to foster community for these folks who can often feel isolated and marginalized, it also provides some resources, a clearinghouse for helpful information, a secure environment, and ample opportunity for participants to commune with nature and to develop creative skills.  Each day begins with a communal breakfast, prepared by the participants with donated food and produce from the garden.  I’ve spent most of my volunteer days so far working with participants at the various workshops—it’s been a great way to get to know the community.  It’s also super-fun to be involved in their daily activities: working in the garden, making soaps and lotions from the herbs they grow, building bee b...