Nawlin's and Hippies

A friend of mine recently told me that everyone has their "vices" and that mine is being judgmental. In short, I always think I'm better than other people, when in reality it hardly is the case.

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With that short introduction, I will tell yall the story of my last month in the Big Easy.

For the last month, I've been doing relief work in New Orleans for a group called Common Ground Relief. Common Ground helps clean out houses that were flooded by Katrina in the poorest neighborhood in New Orleans, the 9th Ward. This neighborhood is predominantly black and has received little help from FEMA and insurance companies. It's a place that has had a long history of racism, and police brutality. These problems continue to face the 9th ward. Helping here reminded me that the world isn't always as simple as it appears and sometimes it's extremely corrupt and sad.

Most of the people I was working with and living with were white college students (Common Ground provides housing and meals for volunteers). Most of the college students were from liberal arts schools... ie Hippie schools. For example, the most over represented college was Hampshire College located in Massachusetts. According to Princeton Review, Hampshire College ranks first in the college that "smokes the most pot" and first in the "most Birkenstock-Wearing, Tree-Hugging, Clove-Smoking" college... ie most Hippie college. Hampshire people are different. They don't take showers everyday, they don't change clothes every week, they walk around barefoot, and instead of turning on a T.V. when bored, they make drum circles.

Furthermore, they annoyed me to death.

I think there is a strange misconception of hippies within the Christian realm... Maybe because of Blue Like Jazz. The hippies I met were not cordial hippies you read about in BLJ. They are the right-wing-stubborn-"you're going to hell"-republicans of the left. They claim to be open minded but they are only open minded in things that are different, non-mainstream, non-order, and not republican. These people seemed no more accepting than Rush Limbaugh...

Because of this, it made my trip really difficult. It's really hard to love people that don't seem to love others the same way (ie. The Nazi's, the KKK, or that stubborn-right-wing-Bill O Reilly lovin- republican that won't listen to logic). However, according to Jesus, no matter how much they don't love others you have to love them...

Because let's face it...

If we don't love people because of their different philosophies on life and different ideas on cleanliness, your criteria for who you love is incorrect. My arbitrary litmus scale of who to love based on character (being open minded, taking showers everyday, and being loving) is no better than their litmus scale of who to love based on political beliefs. Jesus doesn't have a litmus scale on who to love and nor should I.

Do not judge, or you too will be judged. Matthew 7.1.

Judging people creates a cycle that eventually makes everyone think they are better than each other. It creates an odor that repels love. Being judgmental and loving doesn't mix.

I forgot that lesson my first week in New Orleans, and it made my first week unbearable.

The next 3 weeks were spent trying to love these people for who they were. The same friend that called me a judgmental jerk helped me realize that staying in New Orleans was a good thing for my character. Maybe he was right. Maybe I developed a little more patience, kindness, and love through the hippies.

Maybe New Orleans didn't need me, maybe I needed it.

Matt