“Handling The Pan” in Memphis

Making my way to yet another brown brick building, I glide up the stairs, through the double doors, up two more flights of stairs and head down the hall, going north. Patterson only has one amiable quality in my eyes—the building is always just the right temperature. Entering the large classroom, I notice a man that I fail to recognize. I assume that this is just the man I had come to see speak--Dr. Pete Gathje. With a name like Gathje, I’m already impressed. But soon, some other students trickle in and Dr. Gathje’s time had come. First, Wendy, the English 1020 professor who makes us earn our sanity, introduced her former professor. During the brief preface to the informative speech, Wendy spoke of Dr. Gathje’s involvement—both founder and director—with Emanuel House Manna, a non-profit organization that “promotes hospitality for homeless persons, provides support for Prisoners and their families, promotes educational work in schools and the community, and promotes efforts to abolish the death penalty.” In conjunction with his work at Manna House, Wendy mentioned Dr. Gathje’s position of Associate Professor of Christian Ethics at Memphis Theological Seminary.

Although the amiable man had caught my attention through various statistics, he did not strike me as the sort of fellow that could convince me to pull national defense finances for the homeless. There is something so flawed and yet so true about his logic. Therefore, I must give this homeless issue more thought. Until then, I will ponder the never-ending question, “How can we (The City of Memphis) help the poor and homeless with our time and finances?”