We are all broken

6/15

The day is buzzing from the start. Jamie and Glen and I meet to talk about Glen’s design for a refurbished narthex for our church. A clean, warm, welcoming entrance that would draw people in and be a symbol of what the rest could be. We draw Teddy into the discussion to get his thoughts. Glen’s idea is that we need to make a request of session to authorize a refurbishment committee. To begin with Jamie, Glen and Teddy and me as an advisor. Responsible to session, of course. 

We talk about Jamie’s desire to add a portrait of Mary Magdalene, her patron saint. Glen tells the story of Mary’s washing the feet of Jesus, the alabaster jar, how expensive it would have been. The judgment of the disciples, as so many of us are so often judged. And how Jesus rejected judgment for love and acceptance. That’s what this place is, he says, a place that honors us in our brokenness. We are all broken, but we are loved and accepted by God anyways and brought to love beyond our brokenness. He is right, of course. I tell them that this is basic  Reformed theology. The image will help give that message. 

Jamie talks about how she chose Mary Magdalene. Her parents' raised eyebrows. The research she did. The fact that the Bible does not really portray Mary as a prostitute. That the different women get conflated. That perhaps she even came from royalty, from Sheba. And Glen says, then even more so, if she could give up her royalty to follow Jesus. Teddy is following all of this with rapt attention. 

I tell them tha both are true, the extraBiblical as wellas the Biblical. That the Mary of popular culture now has her own reality. I talk about my friend Ann Hayman and her founding of and 30 years with the Mary Magdalene Project, a ministry of transformation for women who have been prostituted, as Ann always said. 

In the middle of this discussion, Martin comes in. I introduce him to Jamie. They go off for a tour of the building. I join them for a serious discussion in the session room. When Martin thinks about the avariciusness that can come into play regarding the building, his blood boils. Almost enough to dance, he says. If we’re going to make this happen, the time is now. Martin will be coming back later in the day to look around again. Other potential partners will be in for a visit as well. 

Jamie and I go off to work on a report and resolutions for the congregational meeting coming up next week. When we finally finish, it feels like much has been accomplished. 

I have just enough time to stop in the church before heading to Chelsea to see Glen’s directorial debut in the play Mah Jongg: the Musical in the West Village Musical Theatre Festival. I see Chris and tell him I’m off for Glen’s play. When I get back, there’s been an issue with two prospective partners wanting to come in for a visit. Danielle’s out of town for the day. Thankfully, the visitor called Jamie who called Steve who took care of it all. And when I step outside, I see them, they’ve been here for two hours. Taking a very serious look. 

I believe in my heart that this is all going to come together. I can see the new narthex, even now. The message of light, of welcome, of respect, and appreciation. And of course, of beauty and justice. 

There are no coincidences

6/14

The Sentinel appears every day. Sits in the south doorway. Says nothing. Stares at the street for a few hours. Then leaves. 

Marc is hard  at work with a plan to install some new plugs and systems so that we won’t trigger the breakers every time we fully light the place. I’m alarmed to see a light on under the balcony stage, but it's Marc, hard at work. 

Long talk with Teddy . Some of the earlier visions of Occupy Wall Street are getting smaller. Well in a sense. For him, it’s more about being part of a community. Doing his part. Expecting others to do their part. His presence here, it makes a difference. He has truly become part of our community. 

Eldridge comes in. I can never much understand what  he’s saying. Have to listen real close.  Finally I make out Metro Card and give him money for a new card. 

David comes by to pick up some equipment, talk with Teddy about the grate project. Lots of father's day conversations going on.

There are two old guys sitting on the steps, passing an Ivanov vodka bottle back and forth, talking, telling tales.  Like characters in an August Wilson play. I tell them they’re welcome but the vodka’s not going to work. They tell me it works quite well, I say, ok, but not here. They grumble  a bit, move on.  

I need to get a fax done at 85 Copy. As I step outside, Martin is there looking for me. I take him to the  B, it’s the end of the day. The current crisis in Spain is making him rethink his situation. The staggering youth unemployment. Loss of hope, increasing drug use. Increased harassment of immigrants, especially Africans. He says to me, Growing up in Spain, every time things get chaotic, there’s some fascist dictator takes over. I don’t think its going to happen. But I don't want my kids there right now.  He wants to reopen discussions about coming into our house. And I’m all for it. Tell him he’ll have to speak with Jamie. She asks the hard questions. We’ll find out quickly if we can make it work. The energy and passion of his work is something I really want to be with us. He’ll come back tomorrow when Jamie is there. Martin says there are no coincidences. 

Inside, I hear the sounds of Kum Ba Ya coming from the rehearsal in the Balcony Theatre. Deep slow African-American voices. 

The man with the gold teeth says his name is Jesus Diablo, ie, Jesus Devil. Says that’s his birth name. 

Are you sure you're not on TV?

6/13

Take sometime to catch up with Steven. Try to figure out what’s up with Jay and Jason.  And Steve, too. He’s been reflecting on a lot of things since Chicago. What’s it all mean? Where can this be headed What’s he have to do with any of it? I understand the issues. 

We decide to head down the street to what Amanda calls the Blue Pub to catch the second half of the Germany- Netherlands Euro Cup game. Even though my good friend Arjan is a Dutch diplomat, I've got a son and good freinds in Germany. No ocntest there, On the way back, we run into Marty. He says to Steve, Don’t I see you on TV?  Steve looks quizzical. I know, he says, the 700 Club. (A classic televangelist show.) The idea of Steve as a televangelist makes me chuckle inside. No, not me, says Steve. 

Marty tells stories of his childhood. Like when his father the rabbi would send him out to ask for donstions from the Seventh Day Adventists. And he never paid me any commission..About the essays he had to write for his father. Who’d put an  X through anything that he had copied from another book  .He finishes by telling his in the spirits of which it's given joke. As we’re leaving he calls out to Steve, Are you sure you’re not on TV?

Two musicians from a classical music concert back  in May have come looking for a music stand. I’m not too confident,but it is quickly found and they are happy. 

Danielle’s brother and sister in law drop by to visit her. 

Meetings. And meetings. And meetings. Beginning with a pre-meeting to prepare for the next meeting. Jamie has prepared an impressive report analyzing different options and their potential impact on income. Wants us to be clear on issues of mission vs. fiduciary responsibility.  Conversation with potential partners goes well. We’re pushing to moving past good idea to making it real. We're clear about the short window of  available time to do it. 

While we’re meeting, an older man comes in just to admire the beauty. Bobby comes in looking for a conversation

The session meets to review what happened in the meeting before and to prepare for the congregational meeting in two weeks. We’re working n bringing in new members, on contacting every existing member. Hugo reminds us of the importance of reflection. We get so involved in  immediate actions, we don’t take the time to reflect, evaluate. I recall how in community organizing, you always plan a meeting or action, do the action,  then evaluate what you just did. In my seminary teaching, I always stress the action, reflection, revision model.  Easier to teach it then to do it sometimes.  For too long we’ve bounced from crisis to crisis. We all feel that time is ending. 

 Jane has just wrapped up her class for the night. I thank her for covering  for me while I was in Seattle. She says it went well, The binding the strongman passage in Mark.  The inspiration for Ched Meyer’s book that’s been informing our Bible study. 

On the way outside, Christopher asks how i’m doing. Good. Tired. It’s been a long day. But good. 

The man with gold teeth

6/12

Back in the city. Ludovica is in with her assistant Judy. She’s got a new play underway and is here to rehearse her new play. Early 20th century, Vienna, Freud....It’s good to have her back. Her rehearsals from her As it is in Heaven Shaker Play helped bring us back to life. Had to fix up some bathrooms. Cean the place up.  The Shaker furniture from that play stays with us. 

Out on the steps is a surly young  man with gold teeth. Decorative eyebrow shaved spaces. A bun on the back of his head. He’s listening to his Ipod and rapping loudly and disturbingly. I ask him to keep it down. He agrees. As i’m going inside, he appears to be begging from an African-American professional looking woman waiting for the bus. I let it go and go back onside. 

Later, I go back outside and he’s asking an African-American professional man for money.   I’m sorry you can’t do that, I say.  The professional man says Why not? Why can’t he? 

We don’t want that happening on the church steps. 

Do you have something  to do with the church?

Yes, I’m the Pastor. 


And I'm homeless, just tryin to get me some food, the man with gold teeth says. 

The man i the suit  looks somewhat confused, disoriented. Decides to leave,

Motherfuck, the man with gold teeth says, that was my money. 

Sorry, you can’t be here during the day.

I ain't alseep.

Sigh. That again. 

Didn't say you were. 

He stands up. Gets in my face. You a racist motherfucker. You let these white guys be here all the time. And he points to a pile of cardboard stashed in the scaffolding structure.

First of all,  ain’t no white guys here right now, I say. Never during the day. But I see you’ve got a beer can, you can’t do that  here, and cigarette butts all over the place.

He brandishes the beer can at me, then violently throws it to the sidewalk. You a racist motherfucker.

Marc has appeared on the steps behind me. Hey man, this is no good, he says.  I saw you yesterday. You’re not showing respect here. Not for the church, not for yourself, not for anyone else.  This isn’t good  for you. No good. 

The man with the gold tooth’s eyes flash for a moment.  yeah, well allright then...and gets off the steps and begins walking away. Stops and picks up the beer can.

I feel slightly embarrassed. It starts with tired and moves on from there.  

Marc has received a decent bid for the revamped amp he found and placed on eBay. It’s a good offer. From  Bangkok. Evry bit helps. 

I’ still thinking about the man with gold teeth. 

   

6/9-11

I usually keep this blog focused on life in and around West-Park Church. But having spent a long weekend in Seattle, Washington, I’ll share a few reflections....

JImi

Lenin

• I’ve always appreciated Seattle from my first visit in the ’80’s through my visits over these last four years to my son Nate in college there. The very first time I looked out on the sound, coolness of the air, the smell of salt, the Olympic Mountains seemingly rising out of the water to the west, a feeling of openness, like you could get on a boat and wind up north to Alaska or all the way across the Pacific.
•   There’s something about the homeless population in Seattle. Somehow sketchier, more beaten down, desperate, drugged... Different than the homeless people I encounter in New York City, on the steps of West-Park. Why? The only thought I’ve had is that this is the edge, the end of the continent, when you’ve finally arrived here, there’s no further place to go.  Nothing but the vast expanse of the Pacific beyond.
• The Pike Street Market gets it right. Fresh fish, produce, stands surrounded by artists, craftspeople, artisans of food and wine...all local, all from Washington. It’s what the South Street Seaport should have been...Who would trade handcrafted jewelry or artisanal cheese or pasta for Ann Taylor, Abercrombie and Fitch, the Sunglass Hut...?
• Never before noticed the wide variety of art deco architecture in Seattle, not only downtown but in houses and apartment buildings on the lushly shaded streets of Capitol Hill, the classic Northwest Deco of the Seattle Art Museum with its Native American motifs
• And something familiar in the Richardsonian Romanesque Revival red and stone exterior of 700 First Avenue, just like West-Park....
• What other city has statues of Jimi Hendrix and Lenin?  
• The Pacific Islander culture has become part of life here, like Latinos in New York. Little places like the home base of the food cart Marinations serving up Mex-Hawaiian- Korean fusion like Aloha pork kimchi tacos...
• So many Pacific Islanders at Seattle U that celebratory leis have become part of the graduation tradition. The best handmade by families the night before, made to share with friends, fresh and fragrant, one after the other circling the necks of the graduates....
• I remember the Museo Nacional  de Antropologia in Mexico City with its mural of a band of Asian people just having crossed the Bering Strait staring out in wonder  at a continent opening before them. The first American immigrants. Maybe something in the DNA that drew those first adventurers here continues to draw people to cross oceans  today...

Grads and leis

   

'sbeen a good day

6/7

Kimberley has come in to wrap up the paperwork needed for her internship to begin in the fall. She’ll be our first intern in about five years.  I appreciate that she is not right out of college and has some real world experience in managing an arts center. We go to Popover’s for lunch and a review of the Center Board meeting yesterday. She has already begun to play a valuable role. She too feels the sense of positive forward movement.  

Two miracles in one day. Ted has helped us find an attorney with experience in insurance and it we have received a manageable insurance premium quote.  We will sleep a little easier. 

Paula and her lighting person Fern back one more time  before tomorrow’s run through of their shows.

Marc has found some lights out we need to deal with. Danielle shares with Teddy the list of events coming up over the next few days.

RL arrives in is work clothes along with David. They pick up Teddy and soon they are hard at work on the grate again. Removing broken steps, welding edges and doors. Teddy tells me it had a certain Keystone Cops quality to it but things got sorted out,the work got done. RL offers to pay Teddy who adamantly refuses. It’s a church project he says. RL tucks the money away and says to me You’ll probably be getting this sooner than later anyways and chuckles. Time is set to start work again tomorrow. 

The crew: Teddy, David, RL

Tia’s been in and out checking on things for Sanctuary.

Danielle’s in laws have come in for a visit. . She introduces everyone before taking them on a tour. 

I go to Caridad la Original, the Dominican place up the street for dinner wit John before the dark Lady Players’ first run through before their performance on the ferry and on Governors Island for the Figment Festival. Exploding the Western canon is I believe its humble name. 

Up in the gym, Melisa has them ready to begin. And she has clearly taken John’s conceptual ideas deeper into theatre art and beyond didacticism. For better or worse, the radicality, the sheer audacity of Jihn’s work stands out more clearly. Whether or not he ultimately makes his case, his work is fueled by both intellectual and a social passion that’s not always visible. More clear, here.

Leaving, I see Glen and Chris on the stairway. Talking about Glen’s rehearsal. Teddy has found another blanket that was left by Occupy that will be cleaned and added to the script. Chris will soon try his hand at directing a scene.  And Glen tells me he’s ready to join the church. That feels like an honor. It has been a good day.

A feeling of light at the end of the tunnel

6/6

Back from a morning in court with P_______. Finally she has an attorney pushing back against the unconscionable avarice of her landlord. Counter suing for unlawful enrichment. It’s late in the game, but still a chance for justice. Every time I leave court, wandering through Chinatown to get back to the train I feel disoriented. 

Mim comes in to plan the agenda for this afternoon’s Center Board meeting. Much is at stake. The window is not a big one. 

Piano Dan is in the sanctuary tuning the Beckstein. I always love to hear him at work. Steve is working with Paula and Leo and their lighting person getting ready for Saturday’s big benefit for their friend with a serious problem with her autoimmune system. The old 29th Street Rep Theatre gang is pulling together for this. Sorry i won’t be able to be there. 

Marissa comes by to wrap up some details from last week’s Movement Research Festival. We’re mutually pleased with the results. 

Steve comes int to tell me that there’s someone asleep on the steps. And it’s only 4 PM. I go out to see. And am surprised to see that it’s Edward Green, aka Human Being. Edward, I say, haven’t seen you in a long time. I thought you had  a place to stay. 

Nah, man. I wish. No place. 

So the deal’s still the same, I say, you can’t be here during the day. You have to get dressed, get going. 

He nods. Steve will be nearby around to see that he goes. 

Deacon Linda is going down the street to her volunteer work at Westside Campaign Against Hunger. She stops to show me pictures of her new apartment. She is very proud. I’ll have to have people over,  she says. And promises to come back to worship soon. We talk about last Sunday night’s work together at the homeless shelter at SPSA. The great meal Kate made. And celebrating the woman who now has a job and a home. Thanks to the Interfaith Assembly. You won’t see no more, she said. Hey you can always volunteer, said Kate. 

I head out to visit Rachel. She didn’t make it to church last week because she had fallen.  Need to see how she’s doing. Tell her Bonnie is anxious to get to know her better. 

The big event of the day is our center Board meeting. We are meeting with a prime potential partner for our Interfaith Center. The discussion goes well. Our visions are very much in line. Jamie asks the hard questions which always puts my stomach in knots.  But they have to be asked. Financial realities are, well, financial realities. Specific assignments are made. Work to be done. We will meet again next week. When our guests leave, we continue our discussion. More assignments made. 

I think about how the day began. How it ended. For the first time in a very long time, a feeling of light at the end of the tunnel.