Revolutionary Kitchen Work

Everyone wants a revolution but no one wants to do the dishes.

That quote from Shane Claiborne and Jonathan Wilson-Hartgrove’s book Becoming the answer to our prayers, ran through , my head a lot today as a group of us stood in the kitchen at Cornerstone (one of JPUSA’s homeless shelters).

I relate a lot to this quote. Often, I have these great ideas running through my head and heart but often it’s the little things I overlook – seeing them as insignificant (and a real drag to do). After all, who wants to do the dishes? No one.

Well I didn’t do the dishes today. I stood in the kitchen at Cornerstone, awkwardly not knowing what to do. Actually, there wasn’t a whole for us to do. At all. In fact, when we arrived the staff at Cornerstone didn’t really know we were coming. (How the hippies at JPUSA ever get anything accomplished is beyond me). So we were eventually packed into the kitchen.

In the end, I helped serve lunch, followed by scrubbing down the walls in the cafeteria. It was a pretty uneventful day (especially since my group got to leave the latest and arrived back at the flat before everyone else). Yet, I know that the little things are helpful. Ed, the head guy in kitchen, told us that we helped them get stuff accomplished that they typically wouldn’t in one day. So I guess that’s something, even if it feels like nothing.

Scooping out peaches for Jesus is never exciting. But that's what I did today.