Accurate
Anthony de Mello says, “Love springs from awareness. It is only as you see someone as she or she really is here and now and not as they are in your memory or your desire or in your imagination or projection that you can truly love them, otherwise it is not the person that you love but the idea that you have formed…”
We wouldn’t dare claim that we fully know everything there is to know about the global immigration crisis. We don’t even know the vastly diverse refugee community in Clarkston as well as we’d like. But we do know the refugees and immigrants we get to work with every day. Because of this knowledge, we are able to debunk some of the fearful or hateful myths about refugees with a more accurate story.
Beautiful
“Love involves the enormous discipline of dropping your desires, your prejudices, your memories, your projections, your selective way of looking, a discipline so great that most people would rather plunge headlong into good actions and service than submit to the burning fire of this asceticism… so the first ingredient of love is to really see the other.” (de Mello again)
It’s a privilege indeed to see up close.
To see past the easy do-goodism that feels, well, good.
To see past the big themes of social reform or community awareness
To see past the happy photos on social media.
We see human beings. We see their beauty and we gladly share it with you. Sure, we tell this story with social media and emails, but we most love telling it up close, with the enticing smell of a cappuccino and the arresting pleasure of great customer service, with open doors, with longer tables and bigger couches, with invitations to spontaneous dance parties.* This way, we can invite you to experience the beautiful, accurate story with us.
Thanks for entering the story with us.
{Photo by Kelley Sue – https://www.kelleysuephotography.com/}
