They came

Today they came through our doors: some of them had been here today, but as is the nature of the beast, there are always a few new faces as well.

What happens in the visible world is easy to figure out: they arrive, we provide the ingredients, and together we prepare a complete meal for them to share with their friends. Each time they come to visit, the ingredients are a bit different, the recipes have been changed (if there is a recipe at all) and the stories they bring through the door are just a bit changed from the previous occasion ... but then again, the stories we too bring to the meeting are different, for each day changes us all in some way or another.

'They' are youngsters who come to us from the Sudbury Action Centre for Youth, commonly known as SACY. We (some parishioners and I) try to share with them an experience of cooking with the result that anyone who may drop into SACY tonight will have a wonderful supper to share.

The more miraculous happening though takes place once the initial layers of the proverbial onion have been removed from the hardened exteriors we all choose to show the outside world. When this happens, stories begin to be told about who we are and about the joys and struggles of our lives. This is the true miracle of this gathering, and in this case, the stories recounted have a particular edge to them, but are the most astounding tales of struggle with the most basic of human challenges, and the valiant efforts put forth by our new-found friends to make a life for themselves.

Many of these friends struggle (some daily) to overcome these struggles, but in the very trying, they in turn teach us so much. They gift us with a unique optic about the way things are for so many of the less fortunate in our society, and all they ask in return is that we give them a place where they can be safe enough to tell their stories, to begin building the bridges which might someday result in trust, and a bit of something to fill their stomachs at the same time.

Each of these meetings is another opportunity for learnings of various kinds. On the surface, this project began with the hope of teaching our visitors about cooking and about the responsibility for feeding their collegues, but as with all projects of this ilk, they themselves end up teaching so much even as they step through our doors.