The Strange New Year's Eve

As I write, the last third of one of my favorite movies is playing, "The Bishop's Wife".  It likely couldn't be made today, a time when mankind has no need of angels, let alone God. 

I am, like so many, home for the evening. Even though I am not much of a party person on such holidays, I usually do at least get out for dinner with a friend or two. But this year, unless one is rebelling against the restrictions which much of the country thinks is justified and the other half thinks is pure diabolic manipulation, one is staying put. 

As I watch the movie, I am moved, by its thematic grace, but also by the fact that the moral center which it represents is long past in favor of a false utopian sensibility. 

It is not a totally lost, this evening, in terms of the milk of human kindness. I ordered take out from Greenblatt's. I had a craving for a French Dip sandwich. The man who delivered it was a breath of fresh air, friendly, and happy, and wishing me a good New Year.  I wished him the same. For a brief moment, I even felt it was possible that our New Year would improve and the gloom would dissipate. But that would have to be a miracle. Human beings think they can provide their own miracles these days. So, the moment did not last. 

The movie has helped a little. Hark the Herald Angels Sing is the backdrop of a scene in the movie. The words we remember talk about a New Born King, who will transform the world an our souls.

I wish this night I could feel the hope for more than a passing moment. But I suppose that in the circumstances a passing moment is good enough. 

I must seize the moment because God is in it. And then, maybe, the moment will become a lifetime, and then an eternity. I wish you the same as 2021 descends upon us.

McIntyre House: A Small Life Raft in the Ocean of Drug and Alcohol Residential Rehabilitation

I am guessing that you have the same experience I do when it comes to charities--receiving a veritable flood of solicitations for all sorts of good works being provide for an overwhelming number of needs in every arena of human existence.  I have my favorites, and they tend to be the larger charities because they have the ability to get my attention, places like St. Jude (taking care of children with cancer for free, founded by Danny Thomas (who just happens to have been a sometime parishioner at my Church back in the 70s and 80s), and Best Friends (a growing sanctuary for animals of every kind in Utah). The only way I have become familiar with smaller local charities is by virtue of providence. I have come to accept the truism that there are no accidents--with God. One such "accident" in my life was becoming acquainted with a small residential drug and alcohol rehabilitation program called McIntyre House located in Los Angeles. The total number of beds in the house is for 16 men. That's small in quantity, but not in the quality of the rescue from the depths of despair. I suppose Providence makes it possible, even obligatory, for me to introduce this little essential charity to you and hope that maybe you will see your way to incorporating it into your monetary gifting. Because there are so many worthy charities, places like McIntyre House can get lost in the fundraising shuffle. Despite that reality, it has survived over 20 years, but always operating on a lean budget relative to its larger brothers and sisters in the world of saving lives. 

First, here's the website address, and a picture of the House. McIntyreHouse.org.

A lot of hard work goes on behind those doors. Men come to those steps on their last physical and psychological legs, sometimes having tried everywhere and everything else literally to stay alive. And, even if they cannot pay the approximately $2,500.00 a month for food and board and program, they are not turned away on that account. The Program is based on the precepts of Alcohol Anonymous, and the goal is retrieving the lost self and bringing him back into the community. It happens in this home like community. It isn't fancy, and it is in an ordinary neighborhood, without a million dollar view. But when a man transitions to a sober life, it is a million dollar emotional event. 

McIntyre House is non-sectarian, everybody in need is welcome to seek help.  But it was started by a Catholic priest, and his friend who was, and remains, in the arena of prison ministry. That's how I happened upon it. The late Jeremiah Murphy was my pastor, and his approach to catholic (universal) social justice was to throw a net around some of his parishioners and say, "I'm doing this and I wonder if you would like to help." And through him, and its Executive Dirctor, Brian Hardin, I found myself involved and somehow on the Board. And I have been now, for over 7 years. And I have come to see what a difference this small residence makes in lives. I even got to go to one of the "transitions"--a kind of graduation ceremony with family and friends of the resident to sober living, and I can tell you how profound it is to see someone who was literally in danger of death come back to the world.  

The big places do this too. They save lives. But not everyone can go to them, and so, a place like McIntyre House is a small life raft that needs, in my view, to continue to exist. It has, in some ways, against the odds, because it costs so much to keep going, to keep the lights on so that men can be brought inside those doors.

As I write, the holiday season is upon us, and it won't look like any other in the history of the United States, or the world, due to the Covid crisis. That's been especially hard on people who are trying to recover from (or not fall into) the scourge of drug and alcohol addiction. But the guys of the House are still trying to create a festive atmosphere in which to continue their life affirming work. And to create a way to raise funds in a time when no one can get together live and in person. Normally, we have a party this time of year, and other live gatherings to bring the House to the attention of our friends and the larger community. But this year, the House is going to do something special, "The Twelve Days of McIntyre House". Beginning on December 12, through to the 23rd, with the help of alumni and other friends of the House, there will be an online fundraising event. When you go to the website, there will be a banner for you to click on and to learn about the good work of the House not from talking heads but from the people who have been and are being helped by the fact that the House exists. And, of course, there will be a donor button for you to contribute, if your would, even though you have so many other demands on your funds. And maybe you would consider becoming a sustaining friend of McIntyre House, by clicking on the donor button every month, with whatever you can spare. The need will continue after the holiday season. 

What is that saying? "He who saves one life saves the world entire." 

Your small act of charity will be a life raft for a man who comes to the doors of McIntyre House this coming year and in the years ahead.