another public transit experience....
so today again i saw the gentleman who i've dubbed "the pointer". every couple days as i stand on the platform waiting for my train to sweep me away to the downtown area i'm witness to the spectacle of the man standing, one arm thrust into the air, finger extended toward the sky, pointing and speaking to "him". he turns this way and that, each time pointing and speaking, rambles of words flow forth some coherent some just jumbled and confused. thrusting his body and voice this way and that he speaks endlessly to the sky. he would not stand out to me normally except for the frequency at which i see him. normal to other accounts, well dressed and groomed but endlessly pointing and speaking to the sky...
a second man, also on the train, speaks endlessly, clearly to none but constantly in argument to prove his point. he makes note of others around but speaks all the same. i think he won his argument, showing great pride and happiness at the climax of his conversation...
a man in the chinese restaurant, commentary on meatballs, rolled perfectly and patted with dough. don't cook them too long or they'll get hard.... his thoughts directed to the other side of the booth, directed to an unseen other, a conversation with a shadow....
a neighbor across the hall, a woman, old and worn by life. she speaks to a husband whose days have long since passed. the events of the day, the running commentary on me as i fix a light and help her take out the trash, she ponders, she prays, she vents, and shares with him her days...
myself, speaking only in my mind but to an unseen, untouchable god. sharing my fears, my days, the people i pass, wondering if he knows their names, asking if i should take the chance to talk to them. unseen, untouchable but oh so real, so alive, active, present, concerned....
to some it seems lunacy but my heart knows better... i take a lesson from my friends who speak to the unknown... just because i can't see him, the conversation is none the less real. to my god i pray;
lunacy to some but the pivotal relationship in my reality...
1 comment:
Phil, in just one occassion it is good to capitalize--when speaking of your God, your Lord, the One who is all and is in all.
Often it seems that the ones who have the most lunacy also have the greatest understanding of the "untouchable." Never be afraid to reach out for the physically unseen in order to grasp what matters in the heart.
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