Making the Best of the Worst
By Rev. Cheryl Cook-Posley
I’m writing this inaugural blog post in the midst of the coronavirus pandemic. I’m certain many of us have looked up to heaven questioning what God’s plan is in all of this. To be sure, our lives, routines and plans have been rocked—all reset and turned upside down. This time is especially challenging for persons experiencing homelessness and poverty who already live in survival mode.
“If I had not lost everything, I would never know the goodness of God.”
Interestingly, crisis often works that way. We may not want to admit this, but there is truly great opportunity in the time of COVID. The Cross moment is one such example: in the crucifixion we see ruin, failure and complete despair. However, the scene shifts to redemption, then restoration and reconciliation. The place of the skull exposes what is hidden at the intersection of Tragedy Avenue and Triumph Boulevard—hope!
While our guests arrive at the Mission under a variety of circumstances, one thing is certain in their stories: crisis is the constant intruder that winds its way through their—and our—lives. Jesus tells his disciples in John 16:33, “In this world you will face tribulation. But take courage; I have conquered the world!” This overcoming of the world is the divine welcome guest of the hope and assurance that God is with us always.
“Never Let a Crisis Go to Waste”[1]
Our guests’ transformation begins out of personal crisis; these struggling yet determined men and women have reached bottom. However, at the bottom is the place where they look up; out of this brokenness, chaos and crisis, they begin their journey towards wholeness. Through the Mission, God is using this coronavirus crisis to shut out any distractions our guests might have to rebuilding their lives and getting closer to Him. This revelation serves as a reminder to each of us to “never let a crisis go to waste,” to lean in, listen and look for opportunities, “to bloom where planted and shine where sent.”[2]
In this season of pandemics—viral, cultural and social—we are determined as disciples and good stewards to come out of the valley with a greater faith, becoming more mature, focused, informed and intentional. Essentially, this is a challenge to each of us to “flip the script” on crisis and see how it serves as an opportunity to relinquish control. We can trust the Holy Navigator and yield so we can be used as God’s instruments of transition and transformation. We can pause, step away from our routines and glorify God by advocating for, serving and ministering with and to the least, the lost, the left out—the silenced and the invisible. How will you find purpose in this crisis?
Through WDE, Mission Men transition from a state of dependence and homelessness to long-term economic self-sufficiency through employment permanence. WDE places an emphasis on entry level-to-intermediate positions in the science, technology, engineering and math [STEM] fields, hospitality, culinary, labor, administration and Green industries. The Mission seeks to educate, engage and employ men in positions of promise that enable them to achieve economic and employment permanence.
[1] “Never Let a Crisis Go To Waste” Rahm Emanuel Washington Examiner March 2020 and ABC News This Week 2008
[2] 16th century Bishop of Geneva, Saint Francis de Sales is first credited with the statement based on his quote, “Truly charity has no limit; for the love of God has been poured into our hearts by His Spirit dwelling in each one of us, calling us to a life of devotion and inviting us to bloom in the garden where He has planted and directing us to radiate the beauty and spread the fragrance of His Providence.”
Comments? Email: CCook-Posley@missiondc.org
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Dr. Cheryl Cook-Posley is senior director of Central Union Mission’s Workforce Development & Education (WDE) program. She leads PATHWAYS: Innovations in Employment and Education, the Mission’s workforce development initiative for guests experiencing homelessness.
Dr. Cook earned a doctor of ministry in urban ministry from the Wesley Theological Seminary, a master of divinity from Howard University School of Divinity, a master’s degree in public administration with an emphasis on policy and evaluation from L. Douglas Wilder School of Public Policy at Virginia Commonwealth University and a bachelor of science in political science from Arizona State University.
Through WDE, Mission Men transition from a state of dependence and homelessness to long-term economic self-sufficiency through employment permanence. WDE places an emphasis on entry level-to-intermediate positions in the science, technology, engineering and math [STEM] fields, hospitality, culinary, labor, administration and Green industries. The Mission seeks to educate, engage and employ men in positions of promise that enable them to achieve economic and employment permanence.
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