Have been reminded again over night of the fragile human condition and the need to belong and to be loved.
We talk much about community, but often live in isolation, we speak of solitude, but are often lonely, we speak of peace, but are fearful, we long for love, but are often embraced by rejection.
just a few days later i was asked if i would pick up a person I had known for around fourteen years who was just being released from jail. i was honoured to reconnect with this person as we begin to journey together to connect in with community.
When my two children were younger, we had a friend over every Monday night for the evening meal.
Some nights he would not turn up, others he would turn up manic.
He would sometimes, ask for some Dylan to be played, and he would sit and write a song or a poem, then leave.
He would sometimes walk to a nearby town, which was an hours drive away, there and back drinking only water.
Some Monday nights over dinner we would talk about a range of stuff, some nights he would just eat.
Some nights, his place at the table empty, we would wonder where he was and how he was doing.
Sadly our friend died some time later, in dubious circumstance.
For him ‘normal’ was different than we understood normal, and as the children set the table each Monday night, there was always a place set for him, just incase he turned up.
He was loved and is missed.
as I write this I am with my partners siblings and partners in NZ.
Last Sunday I was honoured to hear a local musician and artist as he played two new songs.
One was a conversation with his wife who died two years ago, the other called Come to me…..
Come to me you poor
With nothing to your name
And the poor who just have money
You can do the same
Walk with me I love you
Much like indifference being the opposite of love and hate, being poor is about what you have and what you don’t have?
As I loiter on the streets of Melbourne I go to the ‘top end’ of town’ to watch the faces on the street, and I wonder what stories I would hear, and what story they would like to hear?
I think it’s a mistake to make assumptions about people,’rich’ or ‘poor’.
