Wednesday, November 24, 2004
Street Saints
Below the radar screen of diarists and bloggers, often consumed with the “big picture”, ordinary people go about their lives, often doing very extraordinary things. Barbara J. Elliott (and the “J” tells you, of course, that she’s American) has spent the last eight years interviewing people whose lives are marked by their service to others. She’s met everyday heroes who understand that helping to lift the burdens of our fellow citizens are some of life's highest callings, and that the love, care and targeted help individuals provide those in need is far better, more effective, and more humane than any government program.
The result of 300 interviews are contained in Street Saints: Renewing America’s Cities, and it’s recommended reading for anyone in need of proof of the decency and kindness of ordinary people. The cover description sums it up:
“Street Saints takes you through the streets of America's cities to meet people of faith who are renewing America, one heart at a time. These unsung heroes are putting an arm around abused grade-schoolers and teaching them to read, facing down drug dealers, and giving bullet-pocked neighborhoods hope. They are working creatively as social entrepreneurs, turning gang members into computer programmers, and equipping former drug addicts with job and life skills. They are touching the least, the last, and the lost with love. And they are discovering that the transformation is mutual. This unlikely army of compassion includes reformed crackheads and con men, soccer moms, grade school dropouts and PhDs, former prostitutes and business executives, preachers and ex-gang bangers. Regardless of whether they are black, white, Latino or Asian, Baptist, Catholic, Pentecostal or Presbyterian, street saints are discovering their convictions transcend their denominational, racial, and political boundaries. What they all share is a commitment to renew the soul of our nation.”
Below the radar screen of diarists and bloggers, often consumed with the “big picture”, ordinary people go about their lives, often doing very extraordinary things. Barbara J. Elliott (and the “J” tells you, of course, that she’s American) has spent the last eight years interviewing people whose lives are marked by their service to others. She’s met everyday heroes who understand that helping to lift the burdens of our fellow citizens are some of life's highest callings, and that the love, care and targeted help individuals provide those in need is far better, more effective, and more humane than any government program.
The result of 300 interviews are contained in Street Saints: Renewing America’s Cities, and it’s recommended reading for anyone in need of proof of the decency and kindness of ordinary people. The cover description sums it up:
“Street Saints takes you through the streets of America's cities to meet people of faith who are renewing America, one heart at a time. These unsung heroes are putting an arm around abused grade-schoolers and teaching them to read, facing down drug dealers, and giving bullet-pocked neighborhoods hope. They are working creatively as social entrepreneurs, turning gang members into computer programmers, and equipping former drug addicts with job and life skills. They are touching the least, the last, and the lost with love. And they are discovering that the transformation is mutual. This unlikely army of compassion includes reformed crackheads and con men, soccer moms, grade school dropouts and PhDs, former prostitutes and business executives, preachers and ex-gang bangers. Regardless of whether they are black, white, Latino or Asian, Baptist, Catholic, Pentecostal or Presbyterian, street saints are discovering their convictions transcend their denominational, racial, and political boundaries. What they all share is a commitment to renew the soul of our nation.”
