Remember the guy I met two years ago?



The guy who's been spending quite a bit of time with me, the two years I've been rather quiet here?

We're getting married this Sunday.

Yes, in a Quaker meeting. Our Quaker meeting.

Right in the middle of silent worship, we stand, say our vows, and sit down. It's the traditional way.

I love the simplicity.

.

I love Jesse.

     Backyard bluebells coming out of the dark, Astoria   c 2007 mds



On this darkest and longest of winter nights...see what we can all look forward to.  Come on, spring!



Cherry tree ka-bloom, Portland   c 2008 mds

2006: Three years ago, I was living by myself in a very lonely house in Astoria, Oregon, photographing things like this empty birdfeeder in my backyard. The week she was gone at Christmastime, the tenant upstairs had left her window partly open, which made it bang and shatter in an 85 mph windstorm. The month before, I had torn my rotator cuff when I fell on an icy sidewalk, and I was having the most painful time of it, lying on the couch crying most days, because it hurt like hell, and I didn't have the health insurance to cover surgery.


2007: Two years ago, I felt a strong tug from God to move to Portland. I had no job there, no friends or even contacts of any kind. It felt foolish, but the image I kept having in my mind was of Peter jumping off the boat in the dark storm, toward a ghostly figure that sounded like his friend Jesus, who said only, "Don't be afraid; it's me," and "Come on, then."


2008: I spent Christmas Day alone for the first time. The snow was so deep, in a city that rarely sees a few inches per year, that it canceled just about everything, including invitations to eat dinner together. My rotator cuff, though mostly healed, was still acting up whenever it was cold and damp, which is pretty much half the year in Oregon. I was thinking I'd made a terrible mistake by moving to Portland. Then less than a month went by....


2009: Last January, by the grace of God I found Jesse, who was hiding only 3 blocks from my house in Portland. He's lived in his rambling post-Victorian for the past 30 years. I figured it was only a matter of time before we found each other. But I didn't know in the storms what the next step should be, unless it was to walk toward my Friend's voice.




Keep going, don't be afraid of the storms, and have a beautiful Christmas season.

Q: Why have I been away from LJ for 7 months?

A: Um...

 

Q: Why am I back?

A: Just wanted to say hi from both of us......

Abe and Isaac
as found at youmademesayit.blogspot.com



Feb 2 (continued)

Joe turns to the preacher and shouts something, so the preacher walks over. All I hear is the preacher saying "Jesus" very gently several times in the conversation, and then he walks across the street and is gone. Joe turns to me and asks proudly, "Did you hear what I said?"

Me: No, I couldn't hear over the traffic.

Joe: I shouted, "Hey, what are you selling?" And he didn't get the joke, so he came over and said, "Jesus." And I said, "You can't sell Jesus!" He didn't get it. So I said it again, What are you selling, and he said it again: Jesus. And then he asked me if I wanted to be baptized! "Are you kidding?" I said. He just said something about Jesus again and left. He wasn't very good at marketing!

M: Wow.

J: I've been selling for a long time, 30 years, and when you've got a customer, you don't just give up that fast. Unless you know you don't have a sale. Then you just walk away and you don't waste your time.

M: Maybe he knew he didn't have a sale.

J: You know, you're right. That could be. But you have to at least respond. You don't just walk away. Anyway, he was just reading out loud on this street corner. Nobody could even hear him. What a waste!

M: I couldn't hear much, but I could tell it was parts of the Bible. You know, I'm a Christian, too. And I was just writing about that man here in my journal. I was writing that it's very hard for me to judge whether or not it's foolish for him to be out here on the sidewalk. Because God asked people in the Bible to do some very strange things. He told Abraham to go up on a mountain and sacrifice his son, and at the last minute God stopped him and said, "No, that's okay, I believe you trust me enough to do that." So maybe God is asking that man to read and sing out on this busy street.

J: Because maybe one little word will seep through.

M: Yes.

J: I used to think I was right about everything. But now I'm older I know I don't know everything. I'm-- what is the word when you know you can die anytime?

M: Mortal.

J: Yes, mortal. Life is so fragile. You're not invincible. You can get hit by a truck and it's over. You didn't have time. You thought you had time to think about what you would do, but it's over too fast.