...heh... a strange weekend... to day the least...

...just has been turmoil... turbulence... tryin'... and yet in it... i have found confirmation... funny how the songs that you hear... the people that you meet... just seem to sway you in so many ways... the way life is... i was pushed to make a decision on friday night... and yet... it was almost made for me... it came to choosing one way or the other... as many know i work in ministry... in alot of ways that is what keeps me sane... working in faith... working with some of the people that i do in any one of the places that God puts me in a day and how it all intertwines... my decision changed my life path... i had planned out things one way... but in that i was asked to go against what i now believe in... for i know it sounds crazy... at least it does for me... i am called to be on the frontlines... to be in the trenches... to go where the day takes me and God places me... in that... i have had some strange and wonderful things... i have seen things in places that you would least expect it... miracles... love... hope... laughter and song... in places that have been written off by general society... with people who have been written off by general society... in these places and by these people i have seen love and compassion that i don't see in many of the churches that i have visited... i have seen faith... hope and love that overflows... see for me... the funniest part... these people have taught me so much... the 'at risk' or 'give up on 'em' kids... the 'useless' bums... the strangest thing... many of them have things that we have lost... why... because it is all they have left... it is something that no one can take away from them... many of them have it...but they hide it to the outside world out of fear that if someone on the 'outside' sees it... they may try to take it or crush it... one example... i watched a young man that most would figure as a gangbanger thug... give a woman some food out of his backpack... because she hadn't eaten... he didin't know her... he had just over heard her... best part of this... it took place in a homeless shelter... so many sit in homes and say... well... there's a food drive... what can we get rid of in the pantry... what haven't we eatan that has been sitting and we can just get rid of it... or buy something cheap and easy... and yet... this young man... gave of himself... he had nothing... he had a backpack and what clothes he wore... and he offered his food to her... you wanna talk about love for your fellow man... it humbled me... i also met a man who loved to play his drum... he is a cook... but the jobs are few and far between... and yet he plays... for other than death nothing can silence the music inside of him... a man who sees another man fall... and even though he doesn't know this man... stays by his side and comforts him and follows him to the hospital to make sure he's ok... or at the bare minimum has someone's hand to hold if he's not... and they had just met... this is what i have seen at the edge of society... and we call ourselves socialized... now i am not gonna say that it is all crimson and clover... these people all exist on the brink of nothingness... they live and walk through places that angels tread carefully... and yet they keep on going... and not only that... they spread the love... hope... music... compassion... they are roses that grow from potholes... they get it... and i am honored to walk among them... they understand... that no matter where you are... what your station in life... how low down in the gutter you are... there can be hope... love and compassion... if you let it be there... LLLAKYFOTPA