Cutting the Inspiration That Is Focus:Hope

I woke up this morning to an article in the Detroit Free Press that is disturbing to me.  There are certainly enough bad news articles out there but this one is personally infuriating.  The article describes how because huge cuts in state funding 70 of Focus:Hope's 300 employees will be out of work and 225 students who are currently enrolled in it's training programs will be turned away.

Let me back up a bit and give you an imperfect history of Focus:Hope.  In the late 1960's after riots had overwhelmed much of the city of Detroit, a woman from the suburbs named Elanor Josaitis joined forces with Father William Cunningham to not only try to help combat the devastating effects of poverty but also bridge the very tenuous cultural divide.  Their mission statement was this: “intelligent and practical action to overcome racism, poverty and injustice." They understood that if anything good would ever come in the city of Detroit, it would be through the combination of faith, training, education and the belief that the future for the young people of Metro Detroit was brighter than the existing landscape.  Their passion inspired men and women like my grandfather, Donald Pizzimenti, to give of their time, talent and treasure to invest in this better tomorrow.  My grandfather would visit churches and meeting halls to convince the people of the congregations to give, to invest in the next generation of Metro Detroiters and the world.  It was not easy then, in that racially charged time, but they did it.  Generations of young men and women have benefited from this amazing work.

But now we see a lack of care and respect for the futures of young people, especially those in areas of increased poverty and decreased opportunity.  Areas where there are no longer any bootstraps for people to pick themselves up by to make something of their lives.  The talk continues to be that we need to cut programs, cut investments so that we don't leave our children with a huge government debt.  And the desire to not spend more than we take in is an appropriate one.  But a future without debt accomplished this way will mean nothing to a generation of young people who have less and less invested in them.  The cutting of funding to Focus:Hope is a symptom of a much bigger problem.We have forgotten that hope produces dreams which produce great futures.  We must find that spirit, that focus on community that truly believes that we are our brothers and sisters keepers.  Focus:Hope has always believed that.

Where The Broken Go

Where the broken go

Where do the broken go

The bent, the skewed

Those who have sought and still wait

Ones who still wait to be new

Where do the broken go

Needing relief, un-renewed

Those who have loss and heartbreak

Each day they break anew

Will they find peace

Will they breakdown

Can hope still be found in this earthen town

Where do the hopeless go

The tired, the meek

Those whose minds cannot rest

Each day pushing the boulder to the peak

Where do the hopeless go

Hunger builds, thirst unquenched

They who have tasted life on the street

Ones who have felt useless energy spent

Will they find faith

Will they shut down

When no one feels as deeply as they, can be found

But as the broken come

And as the sick walk in

The hungry can then cease their searching

There is a new beginning

There comes relief

For them He has always been reaching

It is where the broken go

(Don Coppo c 2011)

I Will Follow

Although the sight of all of this snow and ice in the trees and the field outside my office window is quite beautiful (even with the shadow of the Aflac Duck in my sill), I must admit that the presence of any wintertime weather makes me want to quickly retreat inside and put on many layers of clothing.  I know this is quite a drag for my kids, especially my son who would like to snowboard, sled or ski at any given moment in the winter months.  The thought of following him or anyone else into the frozen tundra has absolutely no attraction to me.  This is the kind of thing that reminds me that I have limits.  Some limits are upon me because of physical challenges.  But many limits, I must admit are self imposed.  These limits can be good, limits that keep me from burning out quickly in a blaze of glory.  But many keep me, keep you from living out our full potential.  More than that, they keep us from knowing the fullness of God and the deeper things of a relationship with Christ.  If I am unwilling to go out into the snow for a little while, would I have been willing to respond to a call of "follow me and I will make you fishers of men."  
I've loved the song "I Will Follow" by U2 since I was a kid.  But somehow Chris Tomlin's "I Will Follow" has much more meaning for me today:


Where you go, I'll go
Where you stay, I'll stay
When you move, I'll move
I will follow...

All your ways are good
All your ways are sure
I will trust in you alone
Higher than my side
High above my life
I will trust in you alone

Where you go, I'll go
Where you stay, I'll stay
When you move, I'll move
I will follow you
Who you love, I'll love
How you serve I'll serve
If this life I lose, I will follow you
I will follow you

Light unto the world
Light unto my life
I will live for you alone
You're the one I seek
Knowing I will find
All I need in you alone, in you alone

In you there's life everlasting
In you there's freedom for my soul
In you there joy, unending joy
and I will follow