FāVS News News and Commentary about Religion and Ethics in Eastern Washington and North Idaho
By Mark Azzara
Dear Friend,
I have been back to “normal” for several weeks since my summer among the poor ended. I’m once again working with my church’s long-range planning group and the men’s study group, worshiping in that church and my prayer group. My new year at the soup kitchen starts in roughly one week. As usual, I plan to bake cookies for, and wash dishes after, the next Christian coffeehouse. But my comfort zone is gone – i.e., I no longer know what’s normal. I am in a really uncomfortable place, unsure what comes next, and that’s precisely where God wants me because that’s when I listen closely for him to spell things out. He gave me this summer experience without me having to pay for lodging or half of my food, and I can’t wait to see what path he has in mind for me next. And God wants you to say that about your life, too, because that’s what faith is.
All God’s blessings – Mark
Mark Azzara spent 45 years in print journalism, most of them with the Waterbury Republican in Connecticut, where he was a features writer with a special focus on religion at the time of his retirement. He also worked for newspapers in New Haven and Danbury, Conn. At the latter paper, while sports editor, he won a national first-place writing award on college baseball. Azzara also has served as the only admissions recruiter for a small Catholic college in Connecticut and wrote a self-published book on spirituality, “And So Are You.” He is active in his church and facilitates two Christian study groups for men. Azzara grew up in southern California, graduating from Cal State Los Angeles. He holds a master’s degree from the University of Connecticut.
