by Sam Phillips (Chaplain Intern)
“So if anyone is in Christ, there is a new creation: everything old has passed away; look, new things have come into being! All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ and has given us the ministry of reconciliation” 2 Corinthians 5:17-18
It is a privileged phrase, isn’t it? Sometimes in life, we get complacent, bored, or need a change. So, we can say to ourselves, “It’s time to turn over a new leaf.” Sometimes we do not get that gentle nudge into something new. Sometimes it comes as quick as a blinding light.
During my first month at the Central Outreach and Advocacy Center (COAC), I often met guests as they are turning over a new leaf. More often than not, this is not by choice. Life is full of surprises, but for people experiencing homelessness, it also comes with many hardships, uncertainty, and unwanted change.
How I ended up at the COAC also comes from an unexpected life shift. After finishing my degree at Columbia Theological Seminary, I was all set to begin with my dream job in camp and conference ministry. Due to unfortunate circumstances and realizing I was not in the right place, mentally and spiritually, I had to leave. So, now I was a recent graduate with little direction, and I felt like I had made an enormous step backward in my career, and now I was trying to get off the ground.
It was not until I gained some connections from old and new friends that I got connected to Central Presbyterian Church. There was a part-time job open for family ministries. Plus, I was considering what I had to do to complete the last step in my ordination, which was to complete a unit of Clinical Pastoral Education (CPE). And it just so happens that there is an accredited CPE site in the basement of Central Presbyterian called the Center Outreach and Advocacy Center. Once I learned of this and began to meet the wonderful people participating in these wonderful ministries, I realized that I had not moved backward but was turning over a new leaf.
Sometimes life is the one to turn over the leaf, good or bad. And although I believe that God is big enough to hear complaints and laments, we must remember that God is not the cause of our misfortune but the presence that holds and endures our suffering. Perhaps gently nudging us into new places and spaces.
When we feel the discomfort and change that comes with something new, something lost, a piece of us yearning, it is hard. But in Christ, there is new Creation. In Christ, we are created new every day. Because every time that we turn over a new leaf, on our own will, or by life’s misfortune, or by God’s guiding hand, we are reconciling our old life to our new one.
I am blessed to be part of this ministry, where I get to be with people and hear their stories daily. Everyone who enters these doors has a story that will touch your heart. And as the chaplain, whether I am helping folks with new documents or simply listening to their stories, I see God at work making us new and reconciling our old selves to where we want to be, myself included. Ultimately, I’m not the one turning over the leaf as our guests embark on their next part of life, but I get to be a witness to and celebrate it with others.
Hallelujah and amen.