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Walking Into the GuidingLight Essay

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As I opened the door leading into Guiding Light Mission, I felt a strong gust of air. I believe that was the breath of the Holy Spirit, filling my heart with love and compassion. In just a blink of an eye, the Holy Spirit changed my life.
Before walking into Guiding Light, I did not know it existed. Further, I had only vague notions about the Heartside Neighborhood, yet God would use those two locations, where suffering abounds, to change my life. In these locations, I found my purpose, my vocation, and my worldview. In short, I discovered who I was in Christ. The Holy Spirit gave me the ability to show love and compassion for those suffering. He showed me how to develop deep and lasting friendships, by being humble, listening well, and …show more content…

The aim of this paper is to contrast my former worldview to my current worldview. The outline for this paper is first to describe what suffering is like in Heartside and Guiding Light. Next, I will contrast my newly discovered worldview with my old worldview. Last, I will share the challenge to my worldview because of my awareness of suffering among the marginalized in Heartside and in Guiding Light.
Suffering
I saw more suffering in Guiding Light and Heartside than I had over my entire life. For example, I saw two men passed out from drinking too much wine that is what I guessed when I saw one of them still clutching a wine bottle. It was only mid-afternoon and they were unconscious lying in the entry of an abandoned building. I also saw people milling about and smoking during normal working hours. However, instead of working, they were gossiping, commiserating about lack of work, or making drug deals. In Guiding Light, I saw young men whose lives were a mess due to addiction. I saw older men who had struggled with addiction all their lives. I realized addiction is a battle lasting a lifetime; some win the war, most lose the war.
A New Worldview
As stated earlier, my worldview was “the theology of glory.” Those who hold to the theology of glory expect a powerful God. Further, they expect God’s blessing and success in the world if they can follow God’s law without failure. This was true of the Pharisees in Jesus day and true among

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