Bare With Me & Just Listen...Don't Judge Me...Don't Unbefriend Me...JUST LISTEN for a moment please...
My 2nd blog here on this new Google Plus account (Thank God I had the sense to detach myself from the soap opera known as Facebook) comes as a surprise, just as this past October when first backpacking and hiking North to South from Memphis Tennessee to nearly Jackson Mississippi, what began as getting "Spiritually Lost"-woven within my own journeying ignorance, gradually brought me back to my Christian Faith (and then some).
"Let me ask you this, are you a minister?" The elderly black man who took the time going the opposite way on Highway 51 South turned around to ask me and offer me a ride nearly all the wat to my first random Mississippi town of Senatobia.
When I began to explain how back in my 20's in Richmond Virginia following a suicide attempt when after failing in my dream to be a NAVY SEAL and later a career in drug enforcement, how the rest of my twenties was extremely busy and devout in Christian outreach and Bible Study, however later when trusting both my biological father and now ex eventually displaced me as a homeless person, I informed this retired minister that I was electing to get "spiritually lost" and whatever enlightenment, drug, sexual pleasure came my way-even if it killed me, so be it-I know, talk about feeling like an orphan.
This man had a unique listening ambiance about him and even as a total stranger truly seemed to care about my current situation. I shared with him about my biological father being a twisted cult leader and somebody who for years hasn't cared how I was doing, if I was homeless, in jail or drinking and doing drugs and also that my only family (besides later connecting with some of my mother's family in Texas that December) is my mother and two brothers who all live in Europe and asie from my older brother Dave (whom I love with all of my heart and tremendously miss), I am pretty much a loner in this current lifetime.
This very kind Christian brother took me to get groceries and even put off his morning fishing trip to make sure where he dropped me off wasn't in temiddle of nowhere, atually it was a perfect spot off Highway 51 that was heavily wooded and had an enormous lake just two miles on the outskirts of Sanatobia Mississippi.
Little did I realize at that point that God/Christ was already piercing my heart, conscience and direction.
Inorder to make a long story short, before feeling led to hit the road and winter thispast winter trekking 20 to 25 miles on food five days a week throughout Tennessee, Mississippi, Louisiana (before reuniting with long, lost family in Abilene Texas for the Holidays), I also backpacked and hiked throughout Southwestern Michigan, pretty much randomly in the Dowagiac, Decatur,Paw Paw, Holland, South Haven, yada...yada...yada...and while sunbathing in very rare low 80 degree mid-October weather on South Haven's inviting public beach, I encountered and struck up a conversation with three female hospice workers who make it their mission-kind of like what I do when traveling-to seekout homeless persons and prostitutes inorder to feed or clothe or simply speak to as a new, consoling friend.
I will never, ever forget these three ladies. They did everything to aid me along my journey from giving me food and several bottles of Gatorade, to a nice big beach blanket to lay on and one even dared to rub sun block on my burning back. That folks is a small sliver of what Christ himself exempliied and instructs us to do for others.
Now, fully realizing I cannot explain every single experience I had while especially trekking the entire month through Mississippi, I did-during my final two weeks-run into another ride, a generous white 71 yr old, devout Christian peanut farmer named David Weeks. David lived in Kosciusco Mississippi (known as the birth place of Oprah Winfrey), had in the past year recuperated from back surgery and coulkd no longer personally plant and farm peanuts, so now he purchased over a thousand pounds each week from other farmers/friends in the area and sold them out of the back of his pickup truck in several spots throughout half the State of Mississippi. We went shooping at Wal-Mart together and discussed several Bible topics over lunch, which he was generous to provide for us (my first hot meal in nearly a month), and after lunch he further asked me if I wasn't busy if I wanted to continue our deep theological conversation and possibly help him load 100 pound bags of peanuts since his back was no longer strong.
Over the course of about the next week and a half, unknown to me at the time, David fully trained me as a peanut boiler, bagger and salesman. He and I discussed scriptual topics every single day, infact all day long when parked at whatever town square or highway overpass, simply killing time and awaiting for folks to pull over and ask us about our peanuts.
I saw much of Mississippi, we even drove through towns I previously spent several days hiking through on foot such as beloved, tiny and sleepy Winona and several Delta towns such as Greenwood and the entire Cleveland area. It was during this area of The Mississippi Delta where my heart was absolutely shattered with empathy for many poor and thus-based on what I witnessed-began again to doubt any belief in a loving God or Christianity.
None-the-less, based on our daily conversations and having an absolute blast selling peanuts and visiting all these small, historic southern towns with my new friend David, we eventually attended a church just down the street from his tiny, dilapidated trailer (which lacked plumbing), but did have heat and lectric lights and I can so-as matter of fact-I wish now I had stayed and accepted his offer to remain with him through winter.
I was close to Baton Rouge Louisiana by this time and was anxious-which later was one tremendous lesson on bad choices and mistakes-to visit a smaller synagogue (Ross Nichol's roots of faith organization), which regrettably is heavily tied into my VERY sick, adulterous and child molesting biological father (a cult leader down in Charlotte NC). I had been apart of Roots of Faith for many years previously, however upon dissassociating with my father completely back in 2009 (by moral conviction and choice), I was treated vastly different now at Roots of Faith.
And despite traveling and living in the Saint Francisville area previously (even rooting for LSU in Football), I soon got harrassed by a local Sheriff's Deputy named Brian, who was tied to my Sunday School Teacher at the First Baptist Church I was visiting there at this time and to make another long story short, this deputy contacted the associate pastor at First Baptist to arrange for me to leave town.
That some times is the deep south folks, so just to note I will NO LONGER EVER root for LSU, but both The Tennessee Vols and MIssissippi Rebels in college football from here on out.
I originally planned to sit down and blog about returning to my highschool town of Williamsburg and at first being back at the more liberal and artistic Unitarian Universalist Church-which I have grown closer to in activity and befriending people than any Christian church in the area-also how now while researching documentaries on thie alleged Illuminati and information on Satanism and even a death bed confession by Anton Lavey from a woman formerly associated with hsi Church of Saan who was there in his hospital room when he took his last breath, all of that (along with my travels last winter) has now brought me FULLY-and we are talking NO room for teetering here-back to my Christian Faith here in my old high school town, the very town where I have the reputation and history of sex, drugs and rock & roll, etc....
God is AMAZING! Over the past couple of weeks, this NEVER abandoning God has provided an abundance of good, healthy foods )for even when homeless, I am a body builder-just workout with dead tree limbs and sand bags instead of barbells and dumbells). Williamsburg Virginia is increasingly getting richer and richer, cutting down what used to be lush forest lands inorder to build multi-million dollar elite communities and if you want to rent here, I hope you are aware of slightly lesser New York City prices. Though nice, very touristry ofcourse with Colonial Williamsburg, I've always loved The College of William & Mary, musical events at Merchant's Square, some of the most excellent coffee at Aroma's and newly discovered Trader Joe's and New Town.
God has also recently placed a very kind and compassionate Jewish girl in my life and I really don't get why she is so manic and concerned about helping me out of homelessness when every Christian church I have ever visited locally over the past two years after my ex-fiance dumped me and a former cat in the woods to be homeless hasn't helped me with jack shit beyond the a-typical Sunday morning smile and charming "Good to see you" handshake!
Over the course of this past week and a half I have been sleeping in a bed, eating hot dinners again and have the option to shower, but for some reason(s) being a vagabond for so many years and experiencing homelessness now ranks a shower more than just once a week quite overrrated. This new friend in my life isn't too serious about being Jewish or keeping kosher, just very keen on helping me with the more needful little things such as rides to apply for work, being indoors when the weather is incliment , good nutritious salads and meaty dinners, popping poporn and kicking back to movies together whenever life gets chaotic, etc...
God NEVER leaves us nor forsakes us, only we can get down concerning all around and give up with self purpose, kind of detach ourselves from his available, agape love and self medicate and be angry and resentful of our circumstances and terrible decisions we've made in the past.
I cannot say whether or not once May hits whether I'll elect to remain in Williamsburg or not? I am like a classic Ricki Nelson song, Traveling Man or more preferable Johnny Cash, I've been everywhere, man! Something every Spring-infact right now in the month of April-is always boiling in my blood.
For the first time since this past December when visiting and reuniting with long lost relatives in Abilene Texas, I am back attending a mediocre Christian Church locally who happens to have such a fiery, emotionally charged and deeply convicted pastor. I first visited this church when going homeless back in November of 2011 and although much of the people there are incredibly warm, inviting and friendly, I still elect to remain in my normal reclusive shell and not get too involved within the 4 walls of churchiness. NOT knocking this church, just a traveling man used to sleeping in woods and camping beneath highway bridges and befriending the fellow homeless, prostitutes, blacks, gays, etc...just as Jesus not would do, but actually DID (time and time again) and WELL BEYOND!!!
AMEN!!!
My mind is indicating I have expressed enough today, so anything concerning The Illuminati and Santan's control/secret pacts with the American Music Industry and Hollywood will have to wait for nexttime.
I will though try later this week to get a few documentaries up concerning celebrities sich as Johnny Depp, Bob Dylan and other extremely famous persons we are all familiar with in pop culture confessing to making pacts with Lucifer at very young ages inorder to have power, fame and fortune concerning in this lifetime. Bob Dylan surprisingly really opened up about it in a 60 Minutes interview and that is easy to find on You Tube.
All I can add-in closing-is what The Bible says is true and are many people in The Bible such as Moses, David and Noah saits or perfect, OBVIOUSLY NO! ONLY Jesus Christ was and still IS!
What I feel many pagans and secularists, scients and atheists tend to do is point out all the human flaws from those recorded in scripture, instead of carefully reading and contemplating The Sermon On The Mount, what parables are truly teaching or some of my all-time favorite teachings when Jesus (in The Gospel of John chapters 14-17) is spending his final evening with his disciples, even the one who will betray him literally a day before being beaten, tortured, spat on, pierced, agonized to the very point of crying out while bleeding to death, void of any pain killers of anastesia to cry out to Abba Father and wince over all of our sins, YOU & ME and all who we have ever befriended or made contact with and all of our ancestors before us to say,
"My God, My God, why have you forsaken me?"
God NEVER forsakes anyone, howeverif we decide to turn away from God and pursue whatever path that self righteously seems to gratify and fulfill us, then infact that is us seperating ourself from the greatest love, abundance, answered prayer and COMPLETE and TOTAL agape love, best friend and father we each and every one of us could ever, EVER have.
Literally a second pair of footsteps in the sand!
AMEN!!!
Hello fellow traveler. Enjoyed your blog. Strange thing is I was looking for a friend named Dan Tabor who was a Navy SEAL with me in San Diego and your name came up. I don't believe in coincidences. I am a Christian and retired Navy SEAL. God Bless you on your journey my friend.
ReplyDeleteIf you are still trying email me at devinjohnson1989@gmail.com
DeleteIf your still trying to get ahold of him, email me.
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