Day 5: Wheeling, WV

It's Wednesday, and we've reached the last half of our trip here in Appalachia.

Of course, it's also Ash Wednesday today, and we started off on the right foot by going to Mass at Central Catholic, a high school a few blocks down the road. The mass was beautiful (I believe the church is the seat of a bishop) and afterwards we were invited to have lunch with the upperclassmen in the cafeteria. The principal and teachers we talked to were so friendly, and we talked for a while about our service at the soup kitchen. It felt weird to be back in high school though! Sure brings back some memories...

When we got back to the soup kitchen, it was lunchtime, and I had a long conversation with Art, a regular patron. Art had some interesting stories to share with me, although I can't remember exactly what he told me; everyone I've talked to had so much to say, and many patrons came from similar backgrounds and were stuck in similar situations. Suffice to say, Art was yet another man down on his luck; he even told me that he gave away a total of $10,000 to some friends he met on the internet who promised to come and visit him. They never did. Not exactly a smart financial decision.

Our decisions define us, don't they?

I had pity for Art. He seemed like such a compassionate person, and all he wanted was some companionship. Out of all the patrons, he stayed the longest; even though the kitchen closed at 1 pm, he stayed there until 3, drinking tea and just talking and talking.

Later in the afternoon, a group of students (thankfully not me) went to do some real dirty work. I mean dirty. A woman's plumbing had stopped working, and since she didn't know how to fix it, she starting dumping her feces in her backyard. The neighbors complained and the bank was threatening to foreclose on her house. Luckily, some volunteers went to go clean up the situation, and the bank was relieved to hear that the house was back in stable condition.

Again, weird situations. Miserable, tragic situations.

Tonight during our reflections we pondered why we were in Wheeling in the first place. Why had we come to spend our spring break talking to strangers, stacking cans, and putting ourselves in uncomfortable situations when we could be resting and relaxing at home? Was it just to make ourselves look better and feel better? Some people sincerely have fun doing the service work.

But I can't say that's true. Who really thinks it's fun to be scrubbing pots and pans, cleaning up feces, and eating old, expired food? I think the reason we are really here is because the sacrifice is worth it in the end. When you get a chance to talk to people like Art, Terry, and Dal, the work becomes incredibly rewarding. It feels good when you have that face-to-face interaction with the people you are serving.

It feels really good. These people deserve it.