WINTER donations NEEDED asap!

Winter is on our heals and we are in need of winter items for women and men. The weather fluctuation has already brought and increase in numbers as people are seeking a way to get warmed up from the night’s air.

In particular we need winter coats, hats and gloves. Long underwear can also come in handy. Please check your closets for any coats extra hats and gloves you are no longer using. If you have a neighbor in need of it, give it to her or him first. Cherith Brook would ask for what is left over.

Let us redistribute our resources, not in the name of socialism, or capitalism, but in the name of the homeless Jesus who had no place to lay his head and yet came offering life abundant. May the Church be that sign of God's presence we have been called to be!

PTSD discussion Friday June 20 @ 7pm

Friends of Cherith Brook

This Friday evening, June 20 we will be having our June CLARIFICATION meeting a 7PM at Kafe Kiskeya (the store front next door to Cherith Brook, 3308 E. 12th St., 64127).

Sally Hass, Ph.D., who works for the Veterans Medical Center in Leavenworth, KS will be speaking to us about POST TRAUMATIC STRESS DISORDER (PTSD).

There are many traumas folks experience that result in PTSD: Perhaps you know a returning military personel or past veteran who suffers from trauma of war. Perhaps you have family member or neighbor who has suffered a life trauma that has left them emotionally wounded by PTSD. As those who work extensively with veterans, those facing daily street violence, prolonged homelessness, forced prostitution, domestic violence and the like, we desire to know more about PTSD so Cherith Brook can be a place of healing welcome. This is a topic important for all.

Hope to see you there.

Blessings,
Cherith Brook Community
http://www.cherithbrookkc.blogspot.com/
Please call if you have any questions or need directions 816 241-8047.

Join Our Extended Community!

Cook Meals
Sort Clothing & Donations
Host Showers for the Homeless & Poor in our Neighborhood
Offer Haircuts
Launder Shower Clothing
Garden
Do Electrical Work
Assemble Sack Dinners
Remove Asphalt & Concrete
Build Library Shelving
Redo Kitchen Cabinets
Mail Newsletter
House Cleaning
General House Maintenance

(What special gifts & talents do you have to offer? Call us @ 816-241-8047 and let us know how you would like to participate in community life with us!)

"Jerry"

The sun beats down on me
The sweat drips down my face
My back is tired my feet worn out
The heat it burns me to the core
No fan can ease my pain
No place to run no place to hide
Just one more pound just one more can
Just one more can my day is done
50 cents for every pound
Now I can go and walk away
No fan can ease my pain
No place to run no place to hide
Back to my house my things are gone
The window's shattered on my bed
Just clean it off and I am done
I need a place to rest my head
No fan can ease my pain
No place to run no place to hide
I cannot sleep I need a fix
Just down the block that's where she sleeps
You say the "system" has me down
But it has ahold of you
No fan can ease my pain
No place to run no place to hide
I live in your backyard
Won't you please come outside?

This song about our friend Jerry Davis was written by 2007 Summer Intern Trey Thompson.

Resting with God

~Prayer, solitude & resting with God;
~Living the Gospel;
~Breathing the Gospel;
~Looking & finding the Christ in each other;
~Remember that Christ's love & hope lives in ALL creation;
~Asking God's forgiveness for all the wars we create each day by our collective & personal violence, hate & injustices;
~Remember to practice giving forgiveness each moment of the day;
~Remember to practice humility more each moment of the day;
~Remember to practice mercy more each moment of the day;
~Remember to pray, practice solitude, rest with God each moment of the day;
~We start with prayer & come full circle at the end of the day resting with God.

~Steve Sheridan

Midwest Catholic Worker Retreat ~ April 26 - 28 (click on image to enlarge)

"Priceless" Salvation, by Desiree

This world is so BEAUTIFUL, yet
Some never STOP to see how ugly they
can make it "look".
It's sad if you ask me ...
Many people on this earth believe
That wealth and power is best ...
Yet poor can have much more than
rich, it's they who pass that test.
You may be criticized
by MAN if you don't
fit in style ...
relax in a field, wade
in the ocean
stay there for awhile
You'll realize what matters most, It's
Not what others say.
It's how you
Treat
what's always yours.
There is no price to pay.

After visiting us for showers one day,
we found Desiree's poem on our desk.
An unexpected gift.