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does anyone hear you?
my grandparents had a store during the depression.
grandpa picked a location on the side of the hill,
so when the river (the Ohio) came into the streets,
they were above the waters.
grandpa gave credit to people with no jobs or income.
he kept families alive.
now i have two people at my "super-store" who notice me.
i say hello to everyone in a worker's uniform.
most say back, "how are you today, sir?"
i want to say back to them,
"i am great, but please,
please don't call me sir.
if i wanted respect, i would pick friends
who had the flash of fear in their eyes
the first time they saw me."
my pastor is a shy, loving man.
when preaching,
God gives him huge comfort.
he dances.
he sings.
he makes me laugh so hard sometimes.
then, immediately after he finishes,
he becomes the greatest male listener i have ever met.
i am a nobody.
i made 1/2 of poverty level last year.
i am neither a ladies' man nor a man's man.
i go to the store or to church.
the rest of the time i am alone.
oh!
and my last two churches before pastor don's
simply ignored me.
i isn't their fault.
i am ignorable.
recently, pastor don was given a huge portion of the earth
to have access to his preaching.
he gets letters from every corner of the earth.
he is busier than a centipede
trying to tie his shoes.
but he listens to me.
he loves my children.
he visits me in the hospital.
it is a sacrificial love.
he should be sleeping.
he shouldn't be messing with someone
who has no money, no influence,
basically nothing to give.
but when i have a writers block
shutting me up tighter than NORAD at defcon-huge,
i simply pretend i am at dinner with him.
words spill out.
i am a writer,
but his love sometimes is my ink.
the surest form of love anyone can show anyone is this:
they listen.
yes, i know that Jesus said it was laying down our lives.
can you think of a more accurate definition of listening
in this isolated, hurried world?
people think time management is a magic cure.
not for the greatest plague on the earth right now.
the world is so lonely,
virtually every nation lets insane people govern.
the world is so lonely it says,
let's call people "bad guys,"
so we can have someone to hate together.
if we can't care about each other,
we can at least hate as a community.
the nice thing is
that as a person of zero consequence,
i can care without being noticed.
the kids of my neighborhood love me.
my family laughed really hard at me last night.
my kitten literally necks with me.
she sits on my chest and wraps her neck around mine.
i talk really low.
she likes the vibrations, i think.
i thought when i was young,
i wanted to be richer than trump,
i wanted more power than bush,
i wanted to be handsome as brad pitt.
now they all make me kinda sick.
now i want to love my family,
encourage my friends,
make sure every little boy at church feels noticed
and every little girl feels like a princess,
and hold pastor don's arms high to the Lord
as long as my muscles work.
i have a beautiful life.
see ya |
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