I have been home from my journey to NYC with one of my best friend's, Nate Smith, for over a month. In that month, I have spent a lot of time processing and praying through what God did in NYC while we were there and what He is continuing to do in my life. In addition, Nate, our friend David Lane, and I have been e-mailing our friend from the Bowery, the Bermudan Danny Glover, Howard back and forth.
Have you heard of Howard, yet?
In one of my earlier blog posts, I described Howard like this:
"There's Howard, the Bermudan Danny Glover. Howard showed Nate and I how to work the desk the first day and has been on of our best friends ever since. He loves Peanut M&Ms and used to sleep under the Williamsburg Bridge. He doesn't have his front teeth but that doesn't mean he can't smile. His smile is beautiful and when chased by his hearty laughter is a loud proclamation of his love for God and transformation."
I just finished reading a book called, Righteous Dopefiend, which was a picturesque ethnographic study on homeless heroin addicts in San Francisco. In this book, Philippe Bourgois and Jeff Schonberg interviewed, photographed, and lived life with a group of homeless heroin addicts on Edgewater Boulevard in San Francisco for twenty years. Jeff is a white photographer who spent time with these people, sleeping, and living life with them. All of Jeff's field notes from the book, reminded me of Nate and I's relationship with Howard.
Jeff was accepted into the Edgewater homeless community because he didn't judge them, he cared for them. Nate and I genuinely care for Howard and he told us, "we are two cool white guys." The only interaction Howard had with white people was Bermudan tourists and what he had seen on t.v. His favorite white person was Phil Collins but now he has a soft spot in his heart for us as well hahaha.
When our friend David Lane joined us for a few days, Howard called us, "The Three Wise Men."
Howard came from Bermuda to enter the Bowery program and get his life straight and now he is the fifth floor leader and going home to Bermuda for a trial period in a few weeks. He continues to e-mail us and we respond. Our relationship crosses distance just like God's love and the Gospel crosses all distances and all superficial racial lines that can be drawn.
I boldly believe and proclaim that our God is bigger than racism. God is bigger than George Zimmerman and Trayvon Martin. God is bigger than slavery. God's love is partnered with his justice in such a way that it trumps all.
Praise the Lord that He loves all the little children, "red, yellow, black, and white," and we are called to do the same.
