On Friday night as nearly 200 people of all ages gathered at Hennepin Church to stage an All Church Sleep Out, the goal was to raise awareness to the plight of the homeless on our streets. Another goal was to raise funds for the Dignity Center, an outreach ministry that offers help to brothers and sisters who live on the margins. We ate together, worshiped together, sang, built "homes" out of boxes, pitched tents. We listened to life stories of those who once lived on the streets, made sandwiches and care kits for Dignity Center guests.

It was a full night. People stayed awake keeping watch over those who slept outside, chatted with old and new friends inside, found comfortable and not so comfortable spots to sleep, placed a stone as a marker that they had participated in this moment, asked God to bless our intentions.

The evening was only a simulation….each of us knew we would leave, go to the warmth of shower and bed, eat a full, nutritional meal, find comfort in the riches of our privileged lives. It was the intention that seemed most important to me. Those who chose to participate had told people what they were doing, asked for pledges, prepared what they would bring, given up a Friday night, chosen discomfort, asked to be changed somehow by the experience, hoped to have their hearts opened to others in new ways.

As I awoke on Saturday morning, I made my way to the East entrance of the church.The fog was still hanging over the boxes and the tents.Sleepy, sore adults were gathering, seeking coffee. Children still filled with the excitement of sleeping in a strange place moved about in their "feety pajamas".The teenagers and young adults, more accustomed to longer, later hours and odd sleeping arrangements looked the most at home.

Earlier in the evening we had read of Jacob sleeping in the wilderness, taking a "stone for a pillow" , dreaming that the Holy One speaks to him, reminding him of the Divine Presence which travels with us wherever we go. In Genesis it says, "Then Jacob woke from his sleep and said, "Surely God is in this place- and I did not know it!"

Unlike Jacob……I knew that God was in this place……and I was filled with gratitude….and humility.