Transitions

Yesterday i cleaned my house and packed up what little worldly posessions i have (about three medium sized boxes) right up until the moment i decided to take a break...and passed out for an hour.

Today, i was able to move an apartment's worth of free furniture into a house i am able to live in because of the church's generosity and my (hopefully) hard work.

Tomorrow, i fly through Puerto Rico to Boston, and then to Pittsburgh to be re-united with my family.

How quickly life can change in the matter of three days.

balancing hope and fear

When you look at this picture, you can't help but think about things like peace, life, wind, open oceans, etc. I am trying so desperately to keep my focus on these concepts and keep them away from the other side of life here in the islands. I know more about betrayal than i do support. I know more about political warfare than i do cooperation. I know more about anger than i do joy.

Why do people in the church treat each other this way?
Why do they sabotage any forward progress, just because it's not forward progress in the direction they would like to go?

And how do i fit into this mess as a minister?

life after gunshots

i was eating a cheeseburger yesterday, and the back door of the truck fell open. I jumped out of my seat.
I was driving through Charlotte Amalia when a car backfired. I almost wrecked while trying to duck and cover.
Someone slammed a door in diocesan house. I almost peed myself.

This is what happens when you're nerves are shot from living in a neighborhood of constant violence and gunfights. Of backyard dogfights, cat screams, rats, garbage, and dirt. I'm so done with garden street, and so done with people thinking that because i live in the caribbean that live is always sunny and i have nothing to complain about.

It's raining outside.
A nice guy was almost killed this sunday.
...and you can bet there'll be payback once he gets out of the hospital...

i gotta get outa here.