I <3 Manhole Covers

Last night I met four interesting people, and had three interesting conversations.

1. D who has been out of jail three weeks and had alcohol in his system so he refused to pray with me though he asked me to keep him in my prayers with pleading in his eyes. He was telling me he was Boston born and bred. His great grandparents were Bostonians and so on down the line. His family has always lived in the Roxbury/Dorchester area, he acknowledged that it's a rough area now, but he said when his family first lived there (you know, great grandparents era) the neighborhood was all Jewish (you know before they all got rich and moved to Brookline and Newton ;)). His family is African American, but he was quick to point out that they were never racist, if you're nice people, you're nice people and we want you around!

He told me the story of his grandmother who owned her own beauty shop. She used to set all the black women's hair and he went on to describe how particular they are about their hair. He said at one point his grandmother went out on a cigarette break and was smoking with her hand on her hip (he demonstrated and the attitude he had was soo funny) and she noticed this white guy going around knocking on doors shaking hands. He looked totally out of place and she thought it was amusing. Her break was over though so she went back to setting hair. Awhile later, this little white man walks into her shop and asks if she's the owner, she puts her hand on her hip and says yes, giving him a look that says whaddya want? He says, Hi, I am Jack Kennedy and I wanted to introduce myself. . . . D said, she was in love from that moment on. She thought he was the greatest president and in 1963 she truly mourned. I thought it was such a cool story!

2. Another guy, we'll call him first since he told me his name was the name of the first non-Jew to become a Christian, late in the evening as we were on the verge of going in came up to me and also told me a cool story. First he showed me a beautiful red leather Bible with gilt edges he had. He said defensively, "you know all homeless people aren't crazy!" I laughed and said, "I am aware, thank you." This seemed to appease him because then he asked me to sign his Bible. I said "you want me to sign your bible?" I asked, sounding totally confused and probably a little dim. He said "yeah, what's your favorite verse? Sign by your favorite verse."

My initial thought was how much I love Isaiah 40:8 "The grass withers and the flowers fade but the word of the Lord stands forever." growing up that was always my favorite verse. The firmness, the consistency, the strength. In the past couple of years though, I have really been taught about how everything belongs to God and how in the face of loss we're called to say "May the name of the Lord be Praised" I also have had the song Blessed Be Your Name stuck in my head for two days so I chose to sign next to Job's response to all of his loss in Job 1:20-22 The man asked me where I was signing and I told him and he started quoting it and we discussed it for a bit.

Conversation diverged slightly and First told me he was Roman Catholic and he talked about Cardinal Sean O'Malley (who it turns out has his own blog which makes me think he's even cooler :)). While he was talking about him, he said he first met Sean (as he called him) when he was a bishop. He said that since that initial meeting, the Bishop remembered his name. First also said that when his sister died Sean sent his family a note and they emailed First the content and asked him how the hell he knew a bishop!

The coolest part of the conversation was when First told me that even though he's now a cardinal, he still continues to visit Pine Street Inn (one of the largest homeless shelters Boston). First had nothing but good things to say about Cardinal Sean O'Malley, including the fact that he (First) had had a vision that the Cardinal will one day be Pope (it won't happen till the third vote). So we'll see about that. I felt bad, we were going in and First so obviously wanted to continue talking (and he was very interesting). Hopefully, he'll be back next week.

3. The other conversation I had last night (actually in the middle, so this is organized topically, not chronologically) was with a couple of Russian guys, one was from 800 km outside of Moscow, and the other was from Vladivostok (I told him I'd been to Magadan once). They asked us how much the food/drinks cost and were surprised/confused when we said they were free. I told them we were with the church and that we just came out on Thursdays to hang out etc. They told me that the church in Russia doesn't do that at all. That the Russian Orthodox church might go out in the street, but they never handed out food or clothes. They said they did have people that handed stuff out but it wasn't food, they were Hare Krishnas (it was actually amusing, it took some prompting/pantomime, but we got out that they wear orange robes, and have shaved heads and pony tails).

During our conversation I also trotted out some of my Russian words (you know like a little kid). I said hi, and ice cream and beer and then I remembered how to say I like so I said I like ice cream and I like beer and then I remembered onions, so I trotted out that line and then they looked at me like I was from another planet.

The one with slightly more English asked me to say it again, really trying to understand me. Then he had an aha moment and he said, you mean lewk, not luke and he turned to the other guy spoke some Russian that included lewk and luke and said onion and the other guy laughed and nodded. I said ok, and tried it again. I don't think I still quite got the distinction. But the guy with more English was kind enough to tell me I had just told them that I liked manhole covers, and I suppose I do, in the same sense that my mother half asleep and praying with us girls once thanked God for car doors because they keep people safe. I like manhole covers because they limit the number of people falling down sewer holes, but I like onions (caramelized especially) much better (or at least more regularly).

I had such a good night last night!