Dublin—Day 5

I started the day with some shopping with Aubrey and Kyle—Penneys on Henry Street is the bomb. For real.

We met the rest of the group at the Dublin Christian Mission around noon, and had a lovely lunch with Liesel (the correct spelling of her name, by the way), then spent a few hours cleaning the Mission house. Let me tell you, it needed a good, long cleaning.

Nathan, Kyle and I hung out with the Homework Club kids until about six. Kyle and Nathan had fun playing basketball with some of the girls (who play rougher than the boys, I think you should know). Afterward, we met the rest of the group at The Lighthouse and fed the homeless for the evening. Well, Kelly and Becca fed the homeless while Aubrey washed dishes and Nathan, Kyle and I folded and sorted clothes in the basement. It is amazing the treasure trove of stuff that we saw in that basement. So many nice clothes given from generous Irish hearts—but most of these could not be kept in the mission; The basement was already overflowing with clothing, so only the necessities—warm coats, long-sleeve shirts, pants—could be kept. I suppose it’s better that way though; better to have more than necessary than not have enough.

For dinner, we went to a Japanese restaurant, the name of which I can’t remember.  My apologies, but the dinner was relatively uneventful. 

But some topics of interest did come up that I want to reflect on—I recently saw a documentary about common misconceptions about Jesus—things like being born in a manger, and Gethsemane being an actual garden—and I thought it was super interesting! But others did not find these things as fascinating as me.

 

To be clear, my Christianity is by no means based on these facts, but I think it’s important to give a care about these sorts of things. Why wouldn’t you want to know as much about the man you believe to be the Son of God as possible? What do you say to someone who isn’t a Christian when they come at you with those issues? Are you simply going to respond “well, those things don’t matter.” They do matter! That’s God! That is Jesus Christ, God in the flesh, who walked the earth and died for you! If he was born in a basement and not a stable, I want to know about it! I want to soak up every bit of information that I can about him!

Phew, now take a breath with me. I didn’t mean to get anyone excited, but these I find these things fascinating. And I think that knowing who Jesus was when he walked this earth is so important. 

Once back at the hostel, I had the opportunity to unveil some things that have been weighing heavily on my heart to someone who needed to hear those things. This has been an issue for me for a while—I want justice in every situation possible. Part of this, for me, is making others aware when I end up hurt as a result of those actions. This is never an easy conversation—for either person. Usually, if I’m the one who’s hurt, I never get quite a satisfactory reply from the offending party. I would be lying if I said I’m totally satisfied with the reply in this conversation, but I feel like that kind of satisfaction and peace will continue to elude my as long as it depends on the other person. I’ve done my part, I’ve exposed as much of my heart as my trust level will allow, and I can do no more but trust that God is not going to fail me.

Edit:

In all my excitement, I forgot to mention that we also saw the Queen of England!  She is in Dublin, and it's the first time Royalty's been here in one hundred years, and also the first time since Irish independence. As I've previously stated, there are lost of mixed feelings about it among the people we've met. Some think it will be a step in the right direction, while others feel it's simply too soon for her to be here. She's cost Ireland millions of desperately needed euro, and it's difficult to understand why England isn't footing the bill for her stay.

I recorded a video of her riding in a car down the road along the Liffey (the river right outside our hostel!), and I'll be posting it on Facebook when I return to the United States.