"my love lives outside my window"... sing it stevie

oh joseph what a pleasent suprise it was to see you outside out the apartment after that wonderful bikeride. you didn't pay your meter but then again you don't own a car. i'm glad i locked myself out so i could get to say hello to you. i don' know who put that chair there but still i'm glad you decided to sit down and have a cigarette in it. thanks too for letting me take you picture.

joseph is just one of the loves outside of my window... every morning my city love awaits and "i tell everyone i smile just because i've got a city love". outside my window: there lives shifty foods... maybe i wouldn't buy the "fresh" beef or poultry there but there's always a deal like scott tissue for $.69 or some milk for $2.63. and they accept link and wic cards. good thing.

beyond that there are the jesus people (JPUSA). i don't understand them completely yet but they are pretty much doing to the acts 2 thing. they aren't your typical white collar church goers but they love jesus alot and are all about loving the poor(and realize their poverty of spirit as well). they number about 500 people who live together at a single address ("the friendly towers"). they hold their goods and property in a common fund. living communally and pooling their resources in this way enables them to minister to one another and those outside the community in ways that might not have been otherwise possible. pretty interesting. i met trace bundy there (who is a pheonomenal christ following guitarist) check him out. PLEASE.

http://www.tracebundy.com/

the least of these

10:30 sunday morning service...
"can you help me out with some money for food", says the man sitting outside on the church steps.
"not right now, man", my roommate and I respond".

10:30 sunday night walking the dog...
"do you have any change?", says the woman by the 'L'.
"no (but I do have $2.00 i'm about to spend on a chocolate/coffee shake)", i tell her.

last saturday night...
"do you have 52 cents for a train ride?" says michael, a homeless man whose wife cheated on him with his little brother.
"well, i'll go with you and get something to drink or eat", i offer him.

dilemmas? i encounter one of these "dilemmas" daily here in uptown chicago. i sit with the question: how do i stop with the bandaids of hand outs and cups of coffee. what really do these men and women need and who am i to decide.

if it is an ear to listen, i'm on an agenda-- a quater, what are you going to spend it on?-- a cigarette, should i give you one?-- some food, i don't have any with me. what does jesus mean when he says, "whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me."

what am i doing for the least of these brothers? why am i hesitant to make eyecontact with the people all around me? why am i scared?

back to the 10:30 morning service...
would jesus have gone to the church service on time or gotten the man something to eat? at least offered? what if he's on that stoop every sunday? "Then he will say to those on his left, 'Depart from me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels. For I was hungry and you gave me nothing to eat" hm. should i feed him every sunday?