Same KInd of Different as Me, by Ron Hall and Denver Moore

[Werner]

Today, we start our common read of Same Kind of Different as Me, by Ron Hall and Denver Moore. I've read this book myself, earlier this year, and I'm thinking that it should provide us with quite a bit of food for thought and discussion. My five-star review is here: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show... .

[Banner]

I listened to the audio of this a few years ago. I'm going to download it and start listening.

[Werner]

The edition of this book that we have at the Bluefield College library has discussion questions in the back. I thought I might reproduce a few of these here, perhaps as catalysts for our discussion.

What kinds of prejudice are common today?

Other than give money to social service agencies, what are... things you can do to provide ministry to the homeless people in your community?

Bad things happen to good people. What might God be trying to reveal about Himself through these types of situations?

What is the role of forgiveness in your personal life? In your spiritual life?

How are you investing in the lives of others?

Feel free to respond to any of these questions here, or any of the other discussion questions if your copy has them. Or pose your own questions!

[Werner]

Is anyone besides Banner currently reading (or listening to) this book? Or is there anyone else in the group besides me who's read it before?

[Jessica]

I am reading the book right now. I am getting close to the end.

[Werner]

Glad to see someone else joining in, Jessica!

[Swantje]

I'm reading the book right now.

[Werner]

Swantje wrote: "I'm reading the book right now."

That's great, Swantje; the more people reading it, the better!

[Jessica]

I finished the book a few days ago. It is one of the hardest books I have ever had to read. I did not realize when I started that (view spoiler)[ Debbie was going to die of cancer. It is almost the two year anniversary of my Mom dying of cancer and the descriptions of Debbie going through treatments and growing sicker were so hard to read I had to stop mid sentence several times and wait a while before I could continue. I was inspired by the rest of the book though and it made me realize that I harbor some un-Christian prejudices toward homeless people myself. I felt much like Ron described himself feeling several times throughout the story. The profound things that Denver had to say and the incredible generosity he showed towards others opened my eyes just as they did Ron's. These are lessons that I will try to keep in my head and heart for the rest of my life. (hide spoiler)]

[Swantje]

I just finished.

"Other than give money to social service agencies, what are... things you can do to provide ministry to the homeless people in your community?"

Get involved by volunteering, any way that shows that you care, even if you can't do it as regularly as Debbie and Ron.

Talk to people, while serving dinner and such and even when you meet someone on the street. I don't like to give cash to people, but often I can find out they'd like something to eat or once someone wanted a tool that we could get at a store nearby. Don't be afraid of hugs.

At our church we have a ministry where supply backpacks with personalized items, i.e. people who get meals regularly can check what they want/need from a list of options, a personal note is included, too.

At first, I was surprised that there are even a lot of homeless families. Support any organization who helps those families, e.g. keeping them together instead of separate shelters. If you can give any kind of life skills training or job training, that's very helpful, too.

[Werner]

Jessica, thanks for sharing. I'm glad the book spoke to you that deeply; I found it very moving, too, but I haven't shared the same life experience, so couldn't respond to it as fully as you did. (Usually, in the case of nonfiction books, I don't think we need to be concerned with "spoilers" the way we would with fiction --but it's true that in many ways this book reads like a novel, and has a similar impact. What do the others who've finished the book think about this?)

Swantje, excellent suggestions! From your post, I got the impression that you were waiting to comment until you'd finished the book. For the benefit of anyone who's still reading it, I just want to say that you don't have to wait. Part of the idea behind these common reads is to enable people to share their thoughts progressively, as they're reading through the book. Of course, comments made after reading the whole book are valuable, too --the one doesn't exclude the other; and the same person can do both!

[Werner]

With the end of the month, this book comes off of our "currently reading" shelf. For whatever reason, this one didn't inspire as much discussion as I'd hoped (and fully expected!) that it would. But of course this thread will always stay open, and people can continue to comment on it here (including people who may happen to read the book months or years from now!).