The Word from the Streets - November 6, 2002

Namaste

Wow, what a day! Not only was it beautiful weather, but our experiences were just as beautiful...if not better! We were fortunate enough to load up over 350 bagged lunches. The Tuesday evening group did great work. As we suspected, Peachtree and Pine was very busy. They're getting really good at trying to keep an organized line. There are a lot of requests coming to us for warm clothing. I hope we can gather up all that they need. The books brought up a lot of laughs today. Daniel, one of our avid readers, gave me a copy of 'The last of the Mohicans', to read a while ago. I told him that I just didn't have it in me to get through it. He agreed and said he struggled with it too. We've had a running joke about that @$#%$^&*!! book. So, I brought it with me the last two times, and nobody wanted it.

Today a new man, Bobby, came up to get a book and I asked him if he wanted a challenge. He said absolutely! He said, he would read it and report back to me and Daniel to let us know how it went. Todd was there full of smiles and love. This week he gave Zamba some cookies he had gotten from "a contact" at the Kroger bakery. He lights up so much when the children come with us. It's such a beautiful thing Jaqueline does by bringing them each week. We haven't seen Mitch or Rosa the last few visits. We hope they are fine and are sending our prayers out to them. Melissa talked with a man named Horrace. He is affectionately called "The ghetto Preacher." He wanted to know who Ma was and where she lived. Melissa showed him a picture of her and talked about our beloved Guru. What he is hoping to do, is to get a card and have everyone there at Peachtree and Pine to sign it. He wants to thank Ma for the street meal program. He then introduced Melissa to his buddies.

Renaissance Park wasn't as busy as we thought it would be. Homer was there though. Here is one of those beautiful moments we shared today. As we approached Homer, he lit up with a huge smile. When I got closer to him, he said "Hello Michele". I about fell over! The last time I told him my name was when I first met him...about one year ago! I then decided to take a chance and ask him if I could hug him. He smiled and said yes. What a moment that was! He then saw Mariah, our new volunteer, and he started to say a name. We couldn't understand him at first, but he insisted that we try. Turns out he was asking about our Allison. He was either wondering if Mariah was her or he was curious where she was. We told Homer that she was working hard at a new job and was unable to join us.

Everyone was waiting for us at our last stop, Woodruff Park. I've got to say, they have the line-thing going on there. It's so effortless to keep any type of organization of the line. Wouldn't you know, today I had a bunch of mystry/murder books (usually their favorites) and I got a lot of requests for Christian and learning-style books. We're just going to have to branch out! Another beautiful moment was when our David came over to us beaming. He told us he had a long talk with God last night and he was getting a list of the people he loved together. In his journal, he had several pages filled with slots for people to put their name in. He wanted to see us all in heaven. This was, if you will, an invitation to heaven from our friend David. He was so happy when everyone was signing his book. Bailey met a new couple at Woodruff Park. One of them is from New York, the other from North Carolina. They're living in their car and are worried about their existence on the streets. Their child isn't with them now, but they're hoping to be reunited one day. Our prayers go out to them.

Rabia, our fabulous "Water-gatherer" has a new money raising idea. She says that very often she has to buy cards for peoples birthdays,etc. Instead of getting those three dollar cards, she puts the card money into a 'street meal' jar and gives it to us for supplies. Today we counted seventy-one dollars! Not a bad idea...What could all of us give up? Makes me curious about what I could do.

Daniel's quote du jour! "I may be over the hill, but I can still admire the scenery!"

We're so blessed to serve in the names of Neem Karoli Baba and Ma Jaya Sati Bhagavati.


Namaste,
Sadhu