Thirteenth day of Lent: Everything comes from Dylan Thomas and Hank Williams, Sr.

3/7

The idea was that I would come in to the office after my weekly neighborhood lectionary study group and that Danielle and I would work together on a job description for a Union seminary intern to start in the fall.  That was the idea.

When I arrive, the man with the cans and his companion are fast asleep in front of front door. Nobody can get in. It’s way late in the morning. Nobody can get by them, the doors can’t open. I tell them, they’re going to have to get up. They look at me, half asleep. Start to move. 

I go to the side door.   Stan lets me in. Danielle tells me that she has spoken to them and that they will be moving. I tell her that it’s going slowly. I go upstairs to look for my security folks. Sandy is there. Issues at her apartment have brought her back to West-Park. I remember how she’s an architect. The first one to have the vision of an inentional community, a coop. . How she brought the first work crew here. And I remember her connections to P_______.  Saturday night she had called us several times. Sunday, Amanda walked with her for an hour. There is a gentleness about her. I’m glad she feels safe here.  

Rafael comes in. I tell him I need help with the couple out front. And that I really need the steps clear before I get here. Teddy usually does that and was up and off to work too early. Rafael also wants to share his concerns about events planned for Friday night. We need to get thee things cleared up.

RL comes in. He’ snever had the full tour, so I take him around all the parts of the building he hasn’t seen yet. I find out that what he’s looking for is a place to practice, rehearse, work on his next CD. When we finish the tour, he makes clear that he wants his contributions to go towards fixing up the second floor bathroom, the one that Ludovica’s theatre group had helped us restore for their rehearsals.  

And then we talk. About our tango. And Tom Lehrer. And his song about Poisoning pigeons in the park. And his song about the elements. And we drift into the day in Pennsylvania he found two boys shooting 78’s insead of clay pigeons and the treasure trove he discovered there. Some original Sun record Elvis. Some Sonny Terry. 

His birthday is coming up. A question about his age leads to stories about the reservation. His Indian father. His horse named Red. A scene reminiscent of the  classic Mongo and the horse scene in Blazing Saddles. Felled him with one punch....and as to age?  Old enough to have heard Dylan Thomas and Hank Williams, Sr. How everything comes from them and I can almost agree. His daughter is up and awake so he’s off to see her. 

I step outside to share with Steve the agenda for our upcoming meeting with the Occupy folk. I notice the can man’s companion sitting there. So I sit down to talk to her. Turns out she is named Antonia. And he’s Wesley, aka, Sequan. I tell her this deal is not working. Offer to get her help. She assures me that he’s getting them a place They’ll be gone today. I notice her pierced eyeborw. Harvard t-shirt. And (typical) ski cap, even on a warm day. She tells me she knows it can’t work. Not good for her health. Or his. I ask how long she’s been on the street. Never, she says, not until him. I keep telling him, I got to go in, but he don’t care....I tell her I’ll help her if she wants. She nods. And then says, we’ll be gone we’ll be gone....

Hope is in to help out any way she can. We talk about how Sekou’s vision for a a freedom church is pretty close to what we want to be. Why can’t we work it out together?

Finally, Marsha arrives. We’ll go out to talk, to catch up. People are arriving for Jane’s course on miracles.  I greet them warmly. I see that Runi is talking with the intense neighbor lady with the tiny dog. The one who tells me that Jane’s office is where the guns are. I tell Runi I’ll handle it. She wants to come in for the course on miracles. I say, well, not with that dog. She says, he’s a service animal. I look again and say, well....and the class invited her in. Jane certainly shares in the pastoral work of the neighborhood. 

Later that night, I come back. Jane’s on a break, engaged in conversation with Runi. How her name is closer to Rumi the Sufi than Rooney the Girl with the Dragon Tatoo. I talk with Jane and Tia. Jane’s appointment arrives. Time for me to head home. The house is full, filled with life. 


The job description still not complete.