08
Jun
2017
Dear Inner Circle,
About 90 fresh faces filled our Community Hall for an orientation of new volunteers this week. It's always an honour to speak at these events, although on this occasion, I was squashing the honour between two demanding appointments. Walking into the hall, I was astonished, as I always am, that so many people are keen to be involved with us at Wayside. I was handed a microphone and began looking for my first words when a face in the front row made time stop. In a moment I cared nothing about the pressing appointment in front of me, or even what I was meant to be doing at that very time. A stunning, confident, warm face burst to life when our eyes met. The first time I’d laid eyes on her, years ago, there was no eye contact; the woman couldn't look up from the floor. She was in real trouble. A marriage of abuse and isolation had driven her mad to the point that she burnt her house down with no care about whether the fire took her husband's life or her own. The day we met, she had condemned herself as the lowest of human beings but standing in front of a hall full of people was a young woman, fully alive and keen to serve others at Wayside. Sometimes looking into a face can lead you to, "Wow!" It's awe. I read once that the word, "awe" comes from the sound of our breath when we lift back our heads in wonder.
Our chefs and volunteer cooks at Wayside really do make their food with love. At Bondi people are offered menus and receive table service from the best volunteer wait staff in Sydney. All main dishes cost in the order of one to two dollars but the food is worthy of any restaurant in the main street. I've seen plenty of people taking photos of their food because it is so beautifully presented. One of our chefs at Kings Cross puts so much into his cooking that he thinks his food has the power to heal. Yesterday he sent some chocolate biscuits to the cafe and he called them "electro-choc-therapy-cookies"
Keep reading here.
About 90 fresh faces filled our Community Hall for an orientation of new volunteers this week. It's always an honour to speak at these events, although on this occasion, I was squashing the honour between two demanding appointments. Walking into the hall, I was astonished, as I always am, that so many people are keen to be involved with us at Wayside. I was handed a microphone and began looking for my first words when a face in the front row made time stop. In a moment I cared nothing about the pressing appointment in front of me, or even what I was meant to be doing at that very time. A stunning, confident, warm face burst to life when our eyes met. The first time I’d laid eyes on her, years ago, there was no eye contact; the woman couldn't look up from the floor. She was in real trouble. A marriage of abuse and isolation had driven her mad to the point that she burnt her house down with no care about whether the fire took her husband's life or her own. The day we met, she had condemned herself as the lowest of human beings but standing in front of a hall full of people was a young woman, fully alive and keen to serve others at Wayside. Sometimes looking into a face can lead you to, "Wow!" It's awe. I read once that the word, "awe" comes from the sound of our breath when we lift back our heads in wonder.
Our chefs and volunteer cooks at Wayside really do make their food with love. At Bondi people are offered menus and receive table service from the best volunteer wait staff in Sydney. All main dishes cost in the order of one to two dollars but the food is worthy of any restaurant in the main street. I've seen plenty of people taking photos of their food because it is so beautifully presented. One of our chefs at Kings Cross puts so much into his cooking that he thinks his food has the power to heal. Yesterday he sent some chocolate biscuits to the cafe and he called them "electro-choc-therapy-cookies"
Keep reading here.
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