"…all our stories are about Jesus."
I don't talk a lot, socially speaking. Neither did Lars. So we'd just sit there. Cars and trucks passed. Bikes rolled by. The breeze might move the leaves of the scraggly bushes or thin branches of the young trees trying to grow up in the little patch of square dirt hemmed in by the sidewalk …
For those on the street this December
You know when you go grocery shopping and you get that cart with the bad wheel in the front? The one that sticks, or lumps along, or pulls your cart to one side? Sucks, right? Imagine pushing that cart down the road as you leave town with everything you could find while scrounging through dumpsters. …
I drew this while covering a study hall. I needed to express what I felt when being with Lars, what he must feel, and I wanted to engage the students in conversation. This is actually my third attempt at this drawing, all in the same class. The first two were too disproportionate. I wanted the …
There Was An Old Lady... A Sex-Change, Homeless Old Lady Just as I'm walking out of Rona, pieces in hand to fix my kitchen sink, she enters. She who had been a he. I recognize her from when I was sitting on the sidewalk with my buddy Aaron and Lars. Today she's wearing a long …
Continue reading "There was an old lady… a sex-change, homeless old lady…"
Aaron and I are sitting on the sidewalk, talking to Lars, and apparently this old woman feels like we have sympathetic ears because she begins to unloaded her story. "The market is squeezing the seniors out onto the streets!"
Faces of Jesus: Jack and ... Jack doesn’t see me coming so he’s off guard at first, wondering if I’ve noticed that he has signaled this other guy to put some stuff away. The way Jack talks, the way his mind seems so clear, his thoughts so logical, plus the I’m-above-them attitude he has about …
Faces of Jesus: Lars I’ve learned. The next time I see Lars I don’t hand him anything. I say, “Hi,” and sit on the sidewalk next to him for a long and intentionally silent conversation, keeping five bucks hidden under my hand on the curb. It’s almost nice. I mean, twenty-five minutes of being still, …
Continue reading "Jesus Wears Johnny Cash Black: “I was naked and…”"
Faces of Jesus: Lars God’s not subtle. I’ve just dropped my son off at youth group, and with two hours to kill I’m about to try grocery shopping at night. I’m hoping the store’s near to empty. No crowds. No lines. Quick and easy. But as I’m driving down the four lane street, the sun …
Tuesday After I play my trumpet, Jack and I sit in the cool of the shade and listen to the cars hum overhead. I’ve never been great at shooting the breeze. The breeze always moves, and I always miss. So I end up answering Jack’s questions. “What are you doing here?” “Playing my trumpet, talking …
The Next Day “Ha!” Jack laughs in his chair. “You came back!” I smile as I step out from the morning sun and into the shade of the overpass. This time, I’ve parked my van in the McDonald’s parking lot that’s planted right next to this huge mass of concrete gray, the golden arches emblem …
Two Days After Lying To Jesse I'm on my way to Grandma's, and I get to the turn where I can choose to take the highway or meander through town. Wanting to be open to God's leading, I ask, "Which way?" Feels like God says, Through town. And then as I start to go through …
Spring 2016 I've just spent $100 on books. Books about missionaries. And I'm sitting in my car outside the Christian bookstore, trying to read this particular book about a guy from Pakistan who takes a stand for Christ and gets stabbed for it, trying to distance myself as I feel the Holy Spirit stirring around …
Looking Forward to Jesus 