Mainly I'd like to speak a bit about homelessness...
Seriously, so much time is being devoted to helping homeless that it's difficult to do much else. Sure I'm sneaking in a romantic interlude from time to time with a guy who can play my heart like a violin in the hands of Jean-Luc Ponty. The truth be known, it's not my heart that sings to his incredible creativity but to me sex is really a spiritual experience much like meditation.
Ooops, I digressed a bit. Let me start over. There's a few of us here at my church that have decided to solve the problem of homelessness, if not in the world, at least in Simi Valley. This is something that touches me in a very personal way since I was myself homeless for 7 months here in this little middle class town of straight-white-privilege. I'll share that story in another post with a piece I wrote for the church newsletter. I write a lot for the newsletter, another aspect of my busy, busy, busy chant. But pursuing such lofty goals as curing poverty, writing articles, and pulling weeds in the garden do take a fair amount of time. I apologize for being so scattered in my thoughts but my mind is wandering this morning. It could be the latest violin interlude but it's probably just the coffee.
Back to helping the homeless...
It started with a small group of folks using our back patio as a hiding place to sleep at night. When you live on the streets you have to learn a new set of rules. One such rule is to to become invisible or risk trouble with police. We are a sanctuary church that aims to provide a safe place for anyone that needs assistance. We often take a stand against perceived injustices with passive resistance and civil disobedience. Everyone is welcome regardless of religious beliefs, social status, gender orientation, political views, and yes, homelessness. So we allowed this small group to settle on our patio. I began staying here pretty much 24/7 to keep an eye on things and provide needed assistance while becoming friends with a few of our guests. Mind you, it's not just me doing the work but a group of kind folks who are also church members.
I learned a couple of things...
For a city of straight-white-privilege, Simi Valley can be very open and kind to those of us not playing the standard gender roles and other peaceful non-conformists. I also had a lesson in understanding a message in the New Testament. In the story of Jesus having a woman of ill repute (oh boy can I relate) clean his feat and anointing him with fine perfumed oils. His followers complained of such extravagance in that this expensive oil could have been used to raise money to help the poor. Jesus' response to them is, "There will always be poor." The usual interpretation I've always heard was some sort of blah, blah, blah that I really don't remember. I now see this as a profound message to us in how to view life and a much more discrete way of saying even our generosity is ultimately a selfish expression in that we're just making ourselves feel good in what would seem a noble gesture. I suppose it's my Gnostic perspective speaking again.
That's it for today, a police car just pulled up - gotta run.
Big hugs, much love, and many blessings to all.
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