4/2/23.
For Steve
———-
My left hand clutches the wheel.
“All fingers for this one.”
I place my thumb in the black, extend my fingers through the others, take a breath, and turn my car into a neighborhood where I do not want to go.
The drive becomes easy when I breathe and let the wheel come alive.
North, east, south, and west….
White, yellow, red, and black….
Buffalo, eagle, wolf, and bear….
Everywhere I turn, an impartation. A parting. A medicine.
I do this for a short while, and then begin to leave the neighborhood.
“Wait. One final medicine. One thing incomplete. Go back.”
So…
I turn around
and I go back
and I sit and wonder
what I’m here for.
That’s when I see him.
An old friend.
It’s been so long.
(He’s gained a little weight)
He’s jogging,
right towards me,
on the sidewalk,
100 yards away.
And now, I know why I came.
“Bless him…” I say,
clutching the medicine wheel.
A small sporadic splash on my windshield;
it’s suddenly beginning to rain.
Of course it is.
The jogging man wipes his
scrunched up face, annoyed
by the water dripping down.
I chuckle at this.
“Bless him…”
He continues jogging forward. Closer.
I look into his face and see….
A somber, mournful, secret pride for him swells within me.
“Bless him….” I say…
… and think of everything….
“Bless him….” I say…
and slowly drive forward
as he bravely, like a soldier, jogs…
home.
——-
“But to you who are listening I say: Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who mistreat you. If someone slaps you on one cheek, turn to them the other also. If someone takes your coat, do not withhold your shirt from them. Give to everyone who asks you, and if anyone takes what belongs to you, do not demand it back. Do to others as you would have them do to you.
If you love those who love you, what credit is that to you? Even sinners love those who love them. And if you do good to those who are good to you, what credit is that to you? Even sinners do that. And if you lend to those from whom you expect repayment, what credit is that to you? Even sinners lend to sinners, expecting to be repaid in full. But love your enemies, do good to them, and lend to them without expecting to get anything back. Then your reward will be great, and you will be children of the Most High, because he is kind to the ungrateful and wicked. Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful.”
~ Jesus
