Episode 2 of P'Stach'O Bot and the 50 cent Pop
My last column was entitled P'Stach'O Bot and the 50 cent Pop in which a lost robot set off in an epic journey to find his maker and find his purpose (Because everyone knows a robot is made for a purpose!). However this episode will feature a little more heart than allegory. For most of you who know me and many of you that don't my name is Adam Shepski and I work at the Upper Deck Youth center here in town and am a wacky sort of duck (for anyone who works with youth for a living, being wacky is a pre-requisite!). When asked by a friend "If I could do anything the very best in the world, what would it be?" My answer was invalid because I started listing the super powers I wanted! However as a human being (even a wacky one) I have suffered great loss, trial and hardship and along with that great joy, peace and purpose and in this second episode of P'Stach'O Bot and the 50 cent Pop I want to offer hope when the walls of our lives appear to be burnt and broken. In a book I read most everyday I came across a story of a man who lived in prosperity and prestige who when hearing a discouraging report of his home town decided to leave his place of honor to rebuild the walls, the lives and the community of his heritage. This community in which he had lived had been destroyed by years of war and the walls had been left in rubble. After his long journey from wealth to his broken old home he went out late at night and "inspected the walls." What he saw forever changed him, his city and the community. As he looked at broken walls, burnt gates and the shabby dwellings of his neighbors he saw something more than destruction, more than hopelessness. The book in which this story is told was originally written in Greek and Hebrew languages and when the book says he "inspected the walls" the word "inspected" in its original language is sabar which means to examine and hope. This man saw his community as it was, broken and desolate but saw hope in its dark time. He worked for years and with his community rebuilt the walls, the gates and the hope of his community! I don't know where you are as an individual but when I encounter another dark situation or teenager who has been abused, who has not eaten that day or at times is even homeless I see hope as the man in the story did. I see that with love, truth, faith and time the worst of all situations can be redeemed if I/we are willing to act on our prayers and desires for a new day to come. In the broken and the burnt and the busted up I challenge myself to examine and see hope, and with courage face another day with youth, friends and family who come face to face with the brokenness of life and work to rebuild the walls that depression, lies, abuse and loss have taken. I too desire that in this community we see the hope in our walls, our youth and our children!
My last column was entitled P'Stach'O Bot and the 50 cent Pop in which a lost robot set off in an epic journey to find his maker and find his purpose (Because everyone knows a robot is made for a purpose!). However this episode will feature a little more heart than allegory. For most of you who know me and many of you that don't my name is Adam Shepski and I work at the Upper Deck Youth center here in town and am a wacky sort of duck (for anyone who works with youth for a living, being wacky is a pre-requisite!). When asked by a friend "If I could do anything the very best in the world, what would it be?" My answer was invalid because I started listing the super powers I wanted! However as a human being (even a wacky one) I have suffered great loss, trial and hardship and along with that great joy, peace and purpose and in this second episode of P'Stach'O Bot and the 50 cent Pop I want to offer hope when the walls of our lives appear to be burnt and broken. In a book I read most everyday I came across a story of a man who lived in prosperity and prestige who when hearing a discouraging report of his home town decided to leave his place of honor to rebuild the walls, the lives and the community of his heritage. This community in which he had lived had been destroyed by years of war and the walls had been left in rubble. After his long journey from wealth to his broken old home he went out late at night and "inspected the walls." What he saw forever changed him, his city and the community. As he looked at broken walls, burnt gates and the shabby dwellings of his neighbors he saw something more than destruction, more than hopelessness. The book in which this story is told was originally written in Greek and Hebrew languages and when the book says he "inspected the walls" the word "inspected" in its original language is sabar which means to examine and hope. This man saw his community as it was, broken and desolate but saw hope in its dark time. He worked for years and with his community rebuilt the walls, the gates and the hope of his community! I don't know where you are as an individual but when I encounter another dark situation or teenager who has been abused, who has not eaten that day or at times is even homeless I see hope as the man in the story did. I see that with love, truth, faith and time the worst of all situations can be redeemed if I/we are willing to act on our prayers and desires for a new day to come. In the broken and the burnt and the busted up I challenge myself to examine and see hope, and with courage face another day with youth, friends and family who come face to face with the brokenness of life and work to rebuild the walls that depression, lies, abuse and loss have taken. I too desire that in this community we see the hope in our walls, our youth and our children!
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