This is a bit of a continuation of the Gathering post from Sunday.
As we were gathering on Sunday, we received a phone call that went to voice mail in a voice from our past that asked Evie and me for an act of kindness. That request fueled the group's discussion for the rest of the morning.
Specifically, a young, unmarried couple with three young children asked if they could move into our second floor, about 400 square feet, and live there indefinitely for free because they had been forced out of their apartment. They actually had lived in our upstairs several years ago with two kids and it had not gone well. Since then, they borrowed money from us and failed to repay it.
If you have been keeping score, you may have caught the fact that we've had people living with us almost continuously since the beginning of the year and, all of those experiences have gone reasonably well, though it is always somewhat stressful to have someone outside your family unit in your home, and we are tired anyway. And, we need a break just to catch our breath.
So, we told the family of five that we could not accommodate them.
We did help them find a large motel room for five days, which we and the Sunday Gathering are partially funding, while they look for something more permanent. AND,...
...Evie invited them to dinner last night, the time the Wednesday Gathering would gather.
As far as I can tell, the other gatherers accepted the choice of the family over the gathering, but what could they really do? We didn't ask. We told.
The evening went well. The kids were well behaved. Maggie, the world's greatest greeter, loves kids, but seemed overwhelmed by the end of the evening.
This decision reveals an important core value of our community: The act of gathering is not an act of righteousness. Showing mercy is.
I feel bad for how we cancelled the Gathering but not for choosing mercy over Gathering.
Many of our core values are being engaged right now as we go forward with this situation...
...but that is a good thing.
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