The Street Guitarist
I went out with the street ministry team to Los Angeles last night. It is funny how you think that by going out there that you will be blessing people, but often enough it is you who are blessed through the experience. Last night was just such a time.
The street was slow and there were not a lot of people out because of the heavy police presence on Santa Monica Blvd. Incidentally, we were not able to talk with as many people as wel should have liked. So as we approached this little taco stand on the street, my mind began to go back to all that is going on, to my new training, my new mission, and where I needed to go to learn what I must do.
That is when I met Clay.
He was an eclectic looking gentleman in his late twenties, early thirties maybe, with a leather jacket and a story to tell. His companion at the food stand was a black guitar case. We walked over to him and started up a conversation about what he does, night club musician, and what his story was.
Somewhere along the line, we got to the question of God. He knew a lot about Him, more than I have experienced from someone that I met on the streets. The specifics of our conversation are a bit blurry to me, but he did say something that still seems burned into my mind...
"We need to love."
Of course we do. We are called to love and it is God's desire for us to love.
"No, we need to love."
That is when it hit me, the thing that I have been neglecting in my life during this time, the foundation for my new mission: We are not only called to love, we must love, we need it like we need water and food, it is integral for our souls.
So simple, and yet so profound, and I had forgotten.
The street was slow and there were not a lot of people out because of the heavy police presence on Santa Monica Blvd. Incidentally, we were not able to talk with as many people as wel should have liked. So as we approached this little taco stand on the street, my mind began to go back to all that is going on, to my new training, my new mission, and where I needed to go to learn what I must do.
That is when I met Clay.
He was an eclectic looking gentleman in his late twenties, early thirties maybe, with a leather jacket and a story to tell. His companion at the food stand was a black guitar case. We walked over to him and started up a conversation about what he does, night club musician, and what his story was.
Somewhere along the line, we got to the question of God. He knew a lot about Him, more than I have experienced from someone that I met on the streets. The specifics of our conversation are a bit blurry to me, but he did say something that still seems burned into my mind...
"We need to love."
Of course we do. We are called to love and it is God's desire for us to love.
"No, we need to love."
That is when it hit me, the thing that I have been neglecting in my life during this time, the foundation for my new mission: We are not only called to love, we must love, we need it like we need water and food, it is integral for our souls.
So simple, and yet so profound, and I had forgotten.
posted by Hayden | 10:55 PM
3 Comments:
Thanks Hayden.
It's a funny thing how sometimes, remembering that which we have known is more important than new pursuits. It doesn't seem right, but that quality which make the new pursuits seem more valuable is, if we take the time to realize it, reflected much more clarity and brilliance than it is in something new.
I was thinking about this concept last week when I went home...my little cousins were there, all asking for love in their different ways. It's something that we forget sometimes...that we as humans are intrinsically designed with this need for love. I don't know if we can even live without it.
I think that even more than needing to be loved, that this is talking about needing to love someone. We are designed to need to fulfill the two greatest commandments, though our fallen nature may make it seem otherwise, but in the Garden of Eden it seems like Adam and Eve loved God and loved each other, and that was the way we were designed, and that we still fundamentally have that need to love.
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