Ashoka
United States of America 🇺🇸
Loneliness & isolation are epidemics in America. We’re drowning in information and starving for relationships.  According to a Harvard study More than 1 in 3 Americans are lonely and that figure rises to 61% when looking at younger people, and to 51% among mothers with young kids.  These shocking figures are for the general population and are much higher in communities of the poor, mentally ill, and incarcerated and I’m trying to do my part to reduce loneliness and isolation among the “least of these” in my community.
My name is Steve Bowman and I’m part owner of an IT consulting in St. Louis,  MO.  I’ve been a “Christian” since I was a kid , was raised as a protestant and used to believe that heaven was a place you went after you died.  10 years ago I heard the story of St. Francis of Assisi and it changed my life.  How Francis left a life of privilege and wealth to live with and love the leper blew my mind.  How he was able to embrace sister poverty in an attempt to give glory to God revealed the path to peace and goodness. I’m a now a professed member of the Order of Ecumenical Franciscans and try to live in the kingdom of heaven every moment from now on.  I used the read the bible as a rulebook, now I read it as a story of a loving creator pursuing relationship with his creations and a guidebook for: doing for, doing with, being for and being with each other in love and against isolation.  Hell is defined a separation from God and one another after all.
So in my daily attempt to emulate Jesus and Francis I volunteer with local non-profits dedicated to support the poor, hungry, incarcerated and critically disadvantaged youth in North St. Louis and invite you to join me.  I’m simply trying  to be the change I want to see in the world and to change the things that I can to improve community and connection and reduce loneliness and separation and that’s my story.