Jordan Skarr talked about providing for the spiritual needs of the homeless. He challenged the idea that this is more important even than providing food and shelter. What are your thoughts?
I thought that the idea of providing retreats for the homeless was a little impractical at first, but after listening to Jordan’s presentation, I do agree that they are very important. When you think of helping the homeless, you think about a soup kitchen or a clothing drive. All of these things will help homeless people and we should still continue to do them. But, in the long run, retreats are very beneficial for the spiritual well being and the mental health of homeless people. By having homeless people participate in these retreats, they can have time to think about their lives and how they can improve them. Many of these people have been "down on their luck" for a very long time, and these retreats give them an opportunity to get a fresh outlook on life. These retreats help motivate homeless people to get back on their feet and find jobs. Many of the leaders of the retreat are former homeless people who have changed their lives, and they can inspire others to do the same. Jordan also said that even though they are homeless, they still deserve to go on retreats; he followed with a quote by Dorothy Day saying, "The poor deserve beautiful things too". I defiantly agree with this program and believe that it is very successful in helping homeless people improve their lives. The link is an article about Mike Waters, a formerly homeless man who has found much success with the program. http://www.jrh-cleveland.org/homeless.html
Jordan Skarr definitely had an eye-opening and radical presentaion. The idea that the homeless should go on spiritual retreats was a new concept to me and I'm not sure if I completely agree with it. While I think it is nice for the homeless to have a time to reflect and focus in on their lives, the bare essentials are more important (i.e. food, shelter, and clothing). It is like Maslow's heirarchy of needs that says before we can become anything else, we need to have the physiological needs fulfilled over self-esteem and spirituality. this makes sense to me more than holding rtreats for the homeless, even though it is a noble act. Maggie said, "Many of these people have been "down on their luck" for a very long time, and these retreats give them an opportunity to get a fresh outlook on life. These retreats help motivate homeless people to get back on their feet and find jobs." I disagree and think that these retreats serve to take the homeless people's minds off of their current situation. But I do agree with the quote he said about the poor deserving beautiful things, so the idea od a retreat is nice but not practical.
In my opinion, The Ignatian Spirituality Project presentation was most influential to me of all the other presentations. The whole theme of Ignatius being the sole inspiration to helping theses individuals caused the students, along with myself, to connect and relate more to the program since our whole school is based off Ignatius’s example. I used to believe that all homeless people really needed was a place to live and some food to survive. Just as Sean pointed out, Maslow’s hierarchy of needs was still very important to me, and I strongly agreed that the satisfaction of our physical needs is the first step before we can become or achieve anything greater. But Jordan Skarr indirectly challenged this idea when he shared his overwhelming stories of how these retreats and prayer helped transform the many rejected and marginalized homeless people into confident, hopeful leaders of our society. The leaders of these retreats are doing more for these individuals than food and a bed could ever fill. Gabriel Marcei believed that we can become authentically ourselves only through relationships with others, and that is exactly what these retreats are doing for these beaten down, hopeless souls. They are providing comfort and a listening ear for them to give them the confidence and strength to do something greater. This is an article about homelessness in America http://archives.umc.org/interior_print.asp?ptid=4&mid=913
i agree with sean on this. suring the presentation, i kept thinking to myself that it was a fantastic idea, if it really works. i agree that the poor have a right to spiritual reflection and retreat, but i do not agree that through a retreat it will help them get back on their own. it gives them hope for a few days, but what happens when they get back to reality? it sounds brutal but being spiritual, in my opinion, is not the sole key to success. i feel that the first thing homeless people need are the neccesities; food, water, shelter, ect. sean brought up maslow's hierarchy of needs. i think that sums it up perfectly. in order to reach one's highest potential, they must have the basic needs met before continuing.
http://www.self-sufficiency.org/ this website is from an organization called BOSS (Building Opportunities forSelf Sufficiency). they focus on the four main things to helping the homeless; housing, health, economic development, and social justice. i personally think this is a fantastic way to go about it, because it fulfills the basic needs while trying to build sef-sufficiency in the homeless so that they can eventually get back to being on their own.
I agree with Maggie. I believe that the Ignatian Spirituality Project presentation was a great and innovative way to help the homeless. It really demonstrates being a community of Disciples in that sense. There are soup kitchens and shelters to help them with their basic survival needs, but the ISP goes beyond that and fulfills their spiritual needs. This retreat can be enlightening for them. They can connect and seek advice from the formerly homeless men and women who assist in giving the retreats. They have nothing in their pockets so what do they have to loose with participating in a project such as this one? http://www.ignatianspiritualityproject.org/stories.shtml
I agree with Jordan Skarr in that homeless people do deserve a chance to go on a spiritual retreat. I believe that this may help homeless people to be more motivated to change their lives around, but i don't believe that it will completely change their lives. Also i disagree that food and shelter is much more important than a spiritual retreat. without food and shelter, their lives are endangered that much more. Without food, how will they live?
I think Maggie was definitely right in saying that these spiritual retreats can be very beneficial to the homeless. Although the food drives, clothes drives, etc. are also of course extremely important, a homeless person may never get out of their cycle of bad luck/habits unless they take a break and really reflect. By going on one of these retreats, a homeless person can reflect on their past, and how they can change in the future to improve their lives. A drug addict, for example, takes the drugs to escape from the real world and because they know no differently; it is unlikely for them to change their ways unless someone guides them in the right direction. Retreats such as this one http://www.csjsl.org/news/motherhouse-hosts-spiritual-retreats-for-homeless.php are the perfect way to help a homeless person get off their feet and start a new way of living. Maybe if there were more retreats like this one, the number of people living on the streets would start to decrease.
At first the idea of providing, one time retreats seemed impractical. I figured that clothing, food, and shelter for a longer basis would be more important in the long run. However, when the speaker mentioned the quote “Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day. Teach a man to fish and you feed him for a lifetime,” it all suddenly made sense to me. The point of these retreats is not to feed, shelter, or clothe the homeless. Instead it is to get them back up on their feet and back into society. Although soup kitchens and clothing drives aim to do good, they only address the problems the homeless face at hand. Instead, it is more important to be getting these people off whatever addictions they may have, off the streets, and make them motivated; And this is the point Jordan Skarr tried to make when presenting the idea of retreats for the homeless. A point that made me especially interested was the fact that some of the people who attended the retreats also got jobs working at them. This showed me the kind of dedication the people who run the retreats have toward helping these people. I feel like sometimes people forget that the homeless are willing to work, and rejoin society. They just need the right opportunities, such as presented by these retreats, and they will find it within themselves to improve their lives.
I agree with Joanne, at the begining of the presentation it seemed kind of crazy. I would automatically assume that any homeless person would need their basic needs to be fulfilled to substain life. But he shows us that it goes beyond that; not only do they need food, clothing and a place to live, they need emotional stability to get off whatever addiction or problem they might be having. It showed me that help goes beyond helping them out with money, we often forget that sometimes emotional needs come before anything and until you fix those you cannot begin to fix the bigger problems. Retreats are a great way to open up and take baby steps to opening up and feeling comfortable to the point where they trust others to help them with their situation, addiction or emotional instability. If we all begin to help this way and provide basic needs we would be a little closer to keeping homeless people off the streets.
This presentation was about retreats for the homeless. I not only agreed with this idea but also completely support the idea of giving all people, including the poor, a chance to be involved in spiritual healing. It gives the poor a sense of hope and comfort to know that they will now be a part of a bigger community that is supportive as well as understanding of there hardships they face daily. The first principle of the Catholic Social Teachings talks about how all human beings deserve respect. In their economic stuggle they loose the dignity that others who better finacial situations might have. Through these retreats they realize that they are not only in this process and that they have God to rely on. http://www.thetidings.com/2005/0916/homeless.htm This website talks about Father Creed who offers similar retreats to the homeless as well as other people, in order to help them succeed in life.
I thought that the idea of providing retreats for the homeless was a little impractical at first, but after listening to Jordan’s presentation, I do agree that they are very important. When you think of helping the homeless, you think about a soup kitchen or a clothing drive. All of these things will help homeless people and we should still continue to do them. But, in the long run, retreats are very beneficial for the spiritual well being and the mental health of homeless people. By having homeless people participate in these retreats, they can have time to think about their lives and how they can improve them. Many of these people have been "down on their luck" for a very long time, and these retreats give them an opportunity to get a fresh outlook on life. These retreats help motivate homeless people to get back on their feet and find jobs. Many of the leaders of the retreat are former homeless people who have changed their lives, and they can inspire others to do the same. Jordan also said that even though they are homeless, they still deserve to go on retreats; he followed with a quote by Dorothy Day saying, "The poor deserve beautiful things too". I defiantly agree with this program and believe that it is very successful in helping homeless people improve their lives. The link is an article about Mike Waters, a formerly homeless man who has found much success with the program.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.jrh-cleveland.org/homeless.html
Jordan Skarr definitely had an eye-opening and radical presentaion. The idea that the homeless should go on spiritual retreats was a new concept to me and I'm not sure if I completely agree with it. While I think it is nice for the homeless to have a time to reflect and focus in on their lives, the bare essentials are more important (i.e. food, shelter, and clothing). It is like Maslow's heirarchy of needs that says before we can become anything else, we need to have the physiological needs fulfilled over self-esteem and spirituality. this makes sense to me more than holding rtreats for the homeless, even though it is a noble act. Maggie said, "Many of these people have been "down on their luck" for a very long time, and these retreats give them an opportunity to get a fresh outlook on life. These retreats help motivate homeless people to get back on their feet and find jobs." I disagree and think that these retreats serve to take the homeless people's minds off of their current situation. But I do agree with the quote he said about the poor deserving beautiful things, so the idea od a retreat is nice but not practical.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.bing.com/images/search?q=maslow's+hierarchy+of+needs&view=detail&id=953A0F7F8BF942D2926471401250F59DDADD595B&first=1&FORM=IDFRIR
In my opinion, The Ignatian Spirituality Project presentation was most influential to me of all the other presentations. The whole theme of Ignatius being the sole inspiration to helping theses individuals caused the students, along with myself, to connect and relate more to the program since our whole school is based off Ignatius’s example. I used to believe that all homeless people really needed was a place to live and some food to survive. Just as Sean pointed out, Maslow’s hierarchy of needs was still very important to me, and I strongly agreed that the satisfaction of our physical needs is the first step before we can become or achieve anything greater. But Jordan Skarr indirectly challenged this idea when he shared his overwhelming stories of how these retreats and prayer helped transform the many rejected and marginalized homeless people into confident, hopeful leaders of our society. The leaders of these retreats are doing more for these individuals than food and a bed could ever fill. Gabriel Marcei believed that we can become authentically ourselves only through relationships with others, and that is exactly what these retreats are doing for these beaten down, hopeless souls. They are providing comfort and a listening ear for them to give them the confidence and strength to do something greater. This is an article about homelessness in America
ReplyDeletehttp://archives.umc.org/interior_print.asp?ptid=4&mid=913
i agree with sean on this. suring the presentation, i kept thinking to myself that it was a fantastic idea, if it really works. i agree that the poor have a right to spiritual reflection and retreat, but i do not agree that through a retreat it will help them get back on their own. it gives them hope for a few days, but what happens when they get back to reality? it sounds brutal but being spiritual, in my opinion, is not the sole key to success. i feel that the first thing homeless people need are the neccesities; food, water, shelter, ect. sean brought up maslow's hierarchy of needs. i think that sums it up perfectly. in order to reach one's highest potential, they must have the basic needs met before continuing.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.self-sufficiency.org/
this website is from an organization called BOSS (Building Opportunities forSelf Sufficiency). they focus on the four main things to helping the homeless; housing, health, economic development, and social justice. i personally think this is a fantastic way to go about it, because it fulfills the basic needs while trying to build sef-sufficiency in the homeless so that they can eventually get back to being on their own.
I agree with Maggie. I believe that the Ignatian Spirituality Project presentation was a great and innovative way to help the homeless. It really demonstrates being a community of Disciples in that sense. There are soup kitchens and shelters to help them with their basic survival needs, but the ISP goes beyond that and fulfills their spiritual needs. This retreat can be enlightening for them. They can connect and seek advice from the formerly homeless men and women who assist in giving the retreats. They have nothing in their pockets so what do they have to loose with participating in a project such as this one?
ReplyDeletehttp://www.ignatianspiritualityproject.org/stories.shtml
I agree with Jordan Skarr in that homeless people do deserve a chance to go on a spiritual retreat. I believe that this may help homeless people to be more motivated to change their lives around, but i don't believe that it will completely change their lives. Also i disagree that food and shelter is much more important than a spiritual retreat. without food and shelter, their lives are endangered that much more. Without food, how will they live?
ReplyDeleteI think Maggie was definitely right in saying that these spiritual retreats can be very beneficial to the homeless. Although the food drives, clothes drives, etc. are also of course extremely important, a homeless person may never get out of their cycle of bad luck/habits unless they take a break and really reflect. By going on one of these retreats, a homeless person can reflect on their past, and how they can change in the future to improve their lives. A drug addict, for example, takes the drugs to escape from the real world and because they know no differently; it is unlikely for them to change their ways unless someone guides them in the right direction. Retreats such as this one http://www.csjsl.org/news/motherhouse-hosts-spiritual-retreats-for-homeless.php are the perfect way to help a homeless person get off their feet and start a new way of living. Maybe if there were more retreats like this one, the number of people living on the streets would start to decrease.
ReplyDeleteAt first the idea of providing, one time retreats seemed impractical. I figured that clothing, food, and shelter for a longer basis would be more important in the long run. However, when the speaker mentioned the quote “Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day. Teach a man to fish and you feed him for a lifetime,” it all suddenly made sense to me. The point of these retreats is not to feed, shelter, or clothe the homeless. Instead it is to get them back up on their feet and back into society. Although soup kitchens and clothing drives aim to do good, they only address the problems the homeless face at hand. Instead, it is more important to be getting these people off whatever addictions they may have, off the streets, and make them motivated; And this is the point Jordan Skarr tried to make when presenting the idea of retreats for the homeless. A point that made me especially interested was the fact that some of the people who attended the retreats also got jobs working at them. This showed me the kind of dedication the people who run the retreats have toward helping these people. I feel like sometimes people forget that the homeless are willing to work, and rejoin society. They just need the right opportunities, such as presented by these retreats, and they will find it within themselves to improve their lives.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Joanne, at the begining of the presentation it seemed kind of crazy. I would automatically assume that any homeless person would need their basic needs to be fulfilled to substain life. But he shows us that it goes beyond that; not only do they need food, clothing and a place to live, they need emotional stability to get off whatever addiction or problem they might be having. It showed me that help goes beyond helping them out with money, we often forget that sometimes emotional needs come before anything and until you fix those you cannot begin to fix the bigger problems. Retreats are a great way to open up and take baby steps to opening up and feeling comfortable to the point where they trust others to help them with their situation, addiction or emotional instability. If we all begin to help this way and provide basic needs we would be a little closer to keeping homeless people off the streets.
ReplyDeleteThis presentation was about retreats for the homeless. I not only agreed with this idea but also completely support the idea of giving all people, including the poor, a chance to be involved in spiritual healing. It gives the poor a sense of hope and comfort to know that they will now be a part of a bigger community that is supportive as well as understanding of there hardships they face daily. The first principle of the Catholic Social Teachings talks about how all human beings deserve respect. In their economic stuggle they loose the dignity that others who better finacial situations might have. Through these retreats they realize that they are not only in this process and that they have God to rely on.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.thetidings.com/2005/0916/homeless.htm This website talks about Father Creed who offers similar retreats to the homeless as well as other people, in order to help them succeed in life.