Someday

The ASP staff member assigned to our work site is a young woman named
Katie.  During the orientation meeting at the ASP center on our first
night, she introduced herself and mentioned she was from Connecticut.

The next day, Katie led us to our work site—a home about 15 miles from
the ASP center.  Katie spent much of the day checking on our progress,
giving advice, and actively participating in our work.  In a casual
conversation during the work day, I asked Katie where she was from in
Connecticut.

She said: New Town.

We looked at each other for a time, without saying what didn’t need to
be said.

* * * *

There’s a connection between the destructiveness of Today--the school
shootings at Sandy Hook Elementary School, the Boston Marathon bombings,
the poverty of West Virginia—and our constructive work at ASP.

In the narrowest sense, our work this week was for a small number of
homes, for a small number of families, in a small area of Appalachia.

But in the broadest sense, it goes far beyond that—just one positive
response to the negative circumstances of Today, as we work toward and
strive for a better Someday.  Someday when poverty is eliminated.
Someday when tears of sadness are replaced with tears of joy.  Someday
when hatred and violence are conquered by love.

Are we making a small number of homes warmer, safer and drier in Today’s
world?  Definitely.  But are we also improving people’s lives—including
our own—in a way that will endure long after our work week?  Are we
making our world to be a little more filled with love?  Just as
definitely.

The reason we came to ASP is simply this: We Believe in Someday

Steve