Good ol Bonhoeffy

There remains an experience of incomparable value ... to see the great events of world history from below; from the perspective of the outcast, the suspects, the maltreated, the powerless, the oppressed, the reviled -- in short, from the perspective of those who suffer ... to look with new eyes on matters great and small.
- Dietrich Bonhoeffer,Letters and Papers from Prison

To see great events of world history from the eyes of the powerless...Dang Dietrich, nicely put. I find this quotation to be very interesting. To look with new eyes on matters great and small...it's interesting how your values shift when you serve the powerless...instead of the powerful. I think its the Latin form of "Compassion" that means to "Suffer with." Notice its 'suffer with' not 'sympathize with.'
Lots of thoughts there...take em or leave em.

It's been a minute since I posted....oops

Due to the outcry of my fans out there (Dreher and Heather), I've returned to continue my blog efforts.  ;0)

Last night I started writing a book.  I've always joked about it, but I was so outraged yesterday that I decided to make it finally come to be.  Meaning, I've started typing but its likely never to get published :0)

I went to one of my case management appointments.  This mother is a frequent cause of grief in my life.  She's lazy and has poor boundaries, and a remarkable child whom she pays little attention.  She started wigging out on me about how the interventions she's supposed to be using with her child don't "work for black babies."  "These are BLACK babies....do you understand that?!"  Oh I was heated.  So I replied "The fact of the matter is that he's doing great at both schools, black or not, and all that's left is what's going on here at home.  If you want me to walk out that door, I will.  I'm here only because I care about your baby, but if you don't want me here--I'll be happy to go and leave you to deal with him alone."  She calmed down a little after that, but our conversation was heated for a good 10 minutes before she gave it up.  The part that pissed me off the most was that during this whole thing, her baby was sitting on my left side with his arms wrapped around my arm, hugging it tightly.  Those babies KNOW what is safe, what is love.  When this baby's grandma asks him to do something now, his latest response is "Will it make you happy?"  Yeah, that baby is 5 and he's already 10 steps ahead of his momma.  He wants to change, he knows how--but Mom can't see it.  

That just one piece of the current puzzle.....how concerned is the Lord with effectiveness?  If I'm just doing the right thing, and seeing little else---is it okay or even possible to be satisfied with that?  Does the Lord desire that?  I feel like my values have shifted to two things---in the moment moments with kids (making them laugh and be happy as much as possible) and wondering if I could be satisfied doing anything other than administering the true solution--Jesus.  But maybe satisfied isn't the point...thoughts?