Daniel Walton, Resident

My name is Daniel Walton. I am 21 years old. I live in a small studio apartment on the 11th floor of a 15 story building in Downtown Dallas, TX. I work aprox. 40 hours a week in an office that is located on the 8th floor of the same building.This building is owned by Central Dallas Community Development Corporation, which is the affordable housing arm of CitySquare (formerly Central Dallas Ministries). There are 200 apartment units in this building that I live and work in. 50 of these units are dedicated to formerly chronically homeless, another 50 are dedicated to people that have been on the brink of homelessness. The other 100 units are still considered low income apartments but they are what we call “market rate” apartments.

So, let me be a little more clear cause I know it's a bit confusing. I work for the non-profit called CitySquare (Formerly Central Dallas Ministries) at CityWalk (That's what the building is called). My job title is “Community Life Coordinator." My main responsibilities are to plan and implement events, classes, and activities for the residents in the building. The idea is to provide tools and resources for these folks to use so that they may be able to further their lives. “Get them back on their own two feet” if you will. This blog will serve as a way to inform people that are interested, what goes on in a building that is so unique day in and day out. I will be writing about my journey leading up to this point in my life, things I’m learning along the way. I will also be letting you know what goes on in my life day to day, telling stories, my encounters with these people that God speaks so much about in the Bible. So to start this blog I would like to tell you about the biggest struggle I encounter day to day. My biggest struggle is to identify in my mind the boundary between being a neighbor (i.e. having a personal relationship with a resident) and being someone that works in an office to aid residents (i.e. having a “professional” relationship with a resident) The reoccurring question that I have is “Who is my neighbor?” 

Why I do What I do

There is a story in the Bible that goes like this. “An expert in the law stood up to test Jesus.” STOP (FYI: This is the same Jesus that the Creator of the universe sent to live on earth and die by the hands of man so that we humans, from that point on, may be granted a template by which we can live our lives and also the opportunity to live forever in Heaven with God. Just throwing that out there.) SO…this “EXPERT in the law” decided to “TEST” Jesus. “Teacher,” he asked, “what must I do to inherit eternal life?” Now that’s a good question if you ask me. I mean it really doesn’t get much more “to the point” than that. “Well what does the law say?” Jesus replied. The expert answered, “First Love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, strength and mind; and second Love your neighbor as yourself.” “You have answered correctly,” Jesus replied. “Do this and you will live.” But that wasn’t enough for this so called “EXPERT”. He wanted to rationalize himself so he went on to say “well WHO IS MY NEIGHBOR?” (This is where it gets good) So Jesus decides that the best way to enlighten this individual was to tell him a story or a “parable” as we call it. He starts the story by saying “A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, when he was attacked by robbers. They stripped him of his clothes, beat him and went away, leaving him half dead” WOW!!! Now that’s a good way to start a story. He continues…”A priest happened to be going down the same road, and when he saw the man, he passed by on the other side. So too, a Levite, when he came to the place and saw him, passed by on the other side.” Alright so two dudes completely ignored this man that was pretty much lying dead on the side of the road…and then…”a Samaritan, as he traveled, came where the man was; and when he saw him, he took pity on him. He went to him and bandaged his wounds. Then he put the man on his own donkey, brought him to an inn and took care of him. The next day he took out two denarii (about 2 full day’s work worth of money) and gave them to the innkeeper. ‘Look after him,’ he said, ‘and when I return, I will reimburse you for any extra expense you may have.’” I don’t think I have to say much about this act of kindness to emphasize how much this guy went out of his way to help this total “stranger.” Alright so Jesus stops the story there and asks the expert…“Which of these three do you think was a neighbor to the man who fell into the hands of robbers?” The expert in the law replied, “The one who had mercy on him.” Jesus then said, “Go and do the same.” WOW…Who would have thought that the man dying on the side of the road was apparently this expert’s neighbor?

In my world, I am surrounded by what today’s culture identifies as my neighbors. But who really is my neighbor? Does today’s culture limit the meaning of the word “neighbor”? If I didn’t happen to live in this building and I just worked here, would I still call the residents my neighbors? Or would that word be reserved for identifying the people that live in the same apartment building as me, same “neighbor”hood as me, or even only the people that live next door to me? After I love God with all my heart, soul, strength and mind, am I only to love the people that reside in close proximity to me? I ask these questions not to be sarcastic, but simply to analyze what Jesus really meant when He said “love your neighbor as yourself.” This analysis aids me in my work every day. Every day I have to remind myself what I am really here for. What am I really doing? When I think about these things I am reminded of the parable of the good Samaritan. Sometimes I wake up thinking to myself, “I don’t want to deal with ____’s crap today.” Other days I think to myself, “I have been given the amazing opportunity today to help someone that needs some light shined onto their life, that needs to be listened to, that needs to be connected with a resource that could drastically change their life, or someone that simply needs some genuine love.” This ongoing battle in my head is a difficult one. This battle I know is also the best battle that I could ever take part in. Although some days are hard, most days I know without a doubt that I am ridiculously blessed to be put in a place that I am given opportunity after opportunity to help those that are in need. (Helping my “neighbors”) Those days are the days that remind me why I do what I do.