Enough. — Getting Out of the Boat

I've been thinking recently about what it means to have enough.

I'm a bit embarrassed to admit that one of my early responses to this pandemic was, "If the economy crashes but our savings somehow survive, maybe house prices will be low enough that Dan and I can actually break into the market!"

Yikes.

My thumbs have been itching to scroll through online shopping sites. The wizards of online retail know this and everything seems to be on sale. Some of the targeted ads are a bit off (necklaces with Islamic blessings or services to send money back to family overseas, anyone?), but some have earned themselves a few clicks.

There was an impulse to find a way to help too, don't get me wrong. But there are also other instincts, instincts that don't make me want to snap a picture and post a humblebrag on Facebook.

One of our guests, a seamstress from Nigeria, lending a hand sewing masks.

Our capitalist, individualist society tells me: gather a bit more for yourself. Pad your savings account just a little more. It would be irresponsible to expect anyone else to take care of you. You've failed somehow if you need to depend on others. And failure is shameful. So don't fail.

But the Bible has a pretty different message. Sure, hard work is praised in books like Proverbs and Ecclesiastes, but accumulation and putting our trust in our savings isn't exactly a biblical message. Think of the Israelites gathering manna in the desert--if they took more bread than they needed for the day, it simply rotted away.

Or Jesus' prayer: "Give us this day our daily bread."

The reality is that I have people to fall back on. I come from a middle-class family, a middle-class church community. I have a wealth of connections, many of whom would step up if I was down on my luck. As a white Canadian, our country's systems are made to support me. I can advocate for myself, and I know there are others who would and do advocate for my demographic as well.

Chances are, I'll be okay. My privilege insulates me from suffering and want in ways that people of colour, refugee claimants, people with disabilities, and Indigenous peoples in this country (to name just a few) are not protected. Many of the folks we serve at 541 Eatery and Exchange don't have those protective networks or privilege either, though I hope we have "added strands to their safety nets," as one of my coworkers would say. How can I be looking outwards in solidarity right now, rather than inwards?

A friend texted me recently: "I think this Sabbath permission is literally aiding the whole world's healing right now....We are learning about how to be humans."

I think she's right.

What if we could set some captives free? What if we're the captives who need to be set free from the constant anxiety of "just a little more and I'll be safe"?

Maybe you've seen the examples of people banding together and choosing generosity and solidarity over the impulse towards a scarcity mindset. Who would have thought that we could learn how to come together at the exact moment that we have to stay at least 6 feet apart? It's beautiful, and I hope it lasts even if this COVID purgatory drags on through the summer. I want to lean into that impulse towards generosity, to celebrate the ways I see generosity, gratitude and hospitality springing up around me and within me.

It's this kind of vision that inspired Open Homes Hamilton. Did you know that early Christians kept "Christ rooms"? Inspired by the words of Jesus in Matthew 25:31-46, these Christ-followers kept literal spaces in their homes for the traveler or the poor. They took Christ at his word--that God himself could be found hidden in those on the margins. This tradition was later re-invigorated by Dorothy Day and the Catholic Workers during the Great Depression. Not the best time to found a nonprofit! But there was enough.

Here are some ways I've seen people choosing generosity in times of scarcity:

Just as social distancing was ramping up, one of our guests needed to find a new place to live. His hosts are doctors who are on the front lines, responding to people experiencing homelessness, and they needed the apartment he was in to self-isolate from their own family if they were to contract something. He was always supposed to leave at the end of March, but the midst of a global pandemic is not a good time to look for a new place! But another former guest stepped up to share his apartment. How beautiful is that? It wasn't the people with extra who stepped up--it was another refugee claimant.
Our friend Mohammed texted me recently. He was at the grocery store and wanted to know what we needed. He's on OW, but he wouldn't let me pay him back for the butter we needed, which he delivered right to our door.
Another friend sent me a surprise donation this week. She and her husband felt lucky to both still be employed when so many others have lost their jobs, and they wanted to make a few donations to support organizations whose fundraising prospects may have dimmed. (Like Open Homes!) I was really moved.
One of our regulars at 541 just got out of a stint in the West 5th mental health wing. I'm guessing it was COVID anxiety-induced, based on how he was acting before he was hospitalized. A couple days later, he returns to the restaurant as I'm handing out lunch bags and waves me over to the front door. He hands me a $10 through the door.
And there are so many more examples! Our housemate 3D printing face shields upstairs, our friend down the street rallying women in the neighbourhood to sew face masks, our guest sewing masks in her little apartment with a sewing machine donated by her companion, the 541 regular who has made bottles of hand sanitizer and is donating cases to organizations like ours...I could go on and on.

Our housemate Brad 3D printed face shields for medical professionals in our house!

At Open Homes Hamilton, we're looking for ways to support hosts and guests through these challenging times.

Hosts have found their guests' stays extended indefinitely from the usual 2-3 months until...who knows? They have all been so gracious and understanding about this, and I pray that this extra time quarantined together will lead to stronger relationships instead of frayed ones.

Our guests have either just celebrated Easter alone or are looking forward to the beginning of Ramadan in a couple weeks, without the usual community celebrations that would usually mark that time. We are reaching out to our church partners to ask for hampers of groceries and cleaning supplies to help guests feel a little less alone and a little more supported.

And we'll be starting to raise money soon for an emergency fund to help guests on tight Ontario Works budgets manage the extra expenses that might come up, whether from buying new clothes online because thrift stores are closed, buying 2 weeks of groceries at a time instead of visiting the food bank, or other needs that they couldn't prepare for. When you live on OW, you don't have margins--you can't. (Let me know if you're interested in contributing to this fund!)

Making some Malian tige dege (peanut sauce) for a former guest from Mali who’s now quarantined alone.

It is hard to know what the future holds for Open Homes. No refugee claimants are allowed to cross the border right now. Who knows when they'll be allowed to enter?

But I am trying to remember: I have enough. There will be enough to share, because God's economy works differently. May I remember this long enough to extend my networks to people who aren't protected in the ways that I am.

PS Another way you can stand with refugee claimants right now is through advocacy. The Canadian government has made the extreme choice to turn away refugee claimants who walk across our southern border, partnering with the USA, a country that is not exactly known for protecting the rights of those seeking safety, to do so. When the pandemic started, we had been allowing refugee claimants to cross and then quarantining them for 2 weeks, just like any traveller returning to Canada, but now the door has slammed shut and those needing protection are left without options. There are other ways to welcome refugee claimants safely, if we think with creativity and compassion. You can take a few minutes to contact your MP through Amnesty Canada here.