"When a poor person dies of hunger, it has not happened because God did not take care of him or her. It has happened because neither you nor I wanted to give that person what he or she needed. We have refused to be the instruments of love in the hands of God to give the poor a piece of bread, to offer them a dress with which to ward off the cold. It has happened because we did not recognize Christ when, once more, he appeared under the guise of pain, identified with a man numb from the cold, dying of hunger, when he came in a lonely human being, in a lost child in search of a home." Mother Teresa In My Own Words, pp 25.
Hey all...the much anticipated and slightly dreaded middle of September has arrived. If you remember my "When the cherry trees are in bloom, I'll be free" of two years ago, you'll appreciate how this first foggy morning of Fall changes everything. I really should have been a farmer!
That means, of course, it's Citadel time. If you don't know what that means, then you don't know me very well! Or you're a terrible question asker...either way, that's OK! The Citadel is, and has been for as long as I can remember, my personal vision of a life well-spent. In general terms, it's as much a personal metaphor as anything too specific. A citadel is a fortress or stronghold. The real-world manifestation is Citadel Christian Ministries, a non-profit I'm establishing, possibly as you read this! CCM is really just a shell and a business card. The shell is to receive money I want to donate and continue controlling while I take the tax deduction (crass, yes...). That money will largely be spent supporting those who are real activists and actually do something about the sex-trafficking of Nepalese little girls into Bombay. The business card will hopefully be my passport into churches and business clubs as a public speaker and local activist.
The Citadel is me being the best me I know how as hard as I can for as long as I can stand it :) Someone brilliant I met coined the term "compacity" to mean capacity for compassion. That would have been an equally good title.
So apparently, I'm the nut who believes teeth have an infinite ability to grow and bite and chew off more and more and more!