I get angry.
I was crafting an angry blog post in my head this morning as I drove to work. I was angry about people that are irrationally and ignorantly afraid of the homeless. I wanted to create a fire and brimstone post about the true evil in our communities, aka the drug dealers that live in houses.
I just kept getting angrier and angrier.
Before I could get to work I had to drop off some clothes donations. I often take clothes we can’t use to:
Heart 4 the City
954 Eastland Avenue
Akron, OH 44305
They have a great clothes drop off facility.
As I was unloading clothes I usually leave the door of my truck open with Spotify playing. It makes unloading a truck load of clothes a little more enjoyable.
There was a small group of people working in the community garden at Heart 4 the City.
A man with some tools walked by and said, “You’re Sage!”
I have a complicated relationship with receiving gratitude and notoriety. It embarrasses me. But it also means the homeless are being remembered.
That man who stopped me was Stan Rittgers from the Summit Food Coalition.
He started talking to me about his garden at the church.
He talked about how he had a program for kids. They plant pumpkins.
He tells the kids that when they drive by to show their parents what they are growing. Each kid has their own plants.
He said he does this so that the kids have a sense of contribution. That they feel like they are creating something of their own.
Humans, he said, need more than the nourishment of food. They need the nourishment of mattering. Of contributing. Of not just taking but contributing.
Now. What I’m about to tell you is going to sound strange to some people. It sounds strange to me because I have not historically been this type of person.
But I am telling you that since I’ve been working with the homeless I feel like I have been directly plugged into the universe. You can call it whatever you prefer: God. The universe. The spirit.
But I hear it ALL the time now.
In fact, it’s to the point where I’m pretty sure the universe is talking to me constantly. It is guiding me and shaping my path.
This is crazy talk. I know.
Most of my rational friends will tell me that it’s all just a coincidence. That I’m hearing what I choose to hear.
I certainly can’t prove this. But I’m telling you: It is real!
Stan was telling me not to write about anger and what is upsetting me.
He was telling me to stay on point: to write about love. To write about humanity and what it means to be a human.
During this entire conversation the music in the background was the song: God’s Plan by Drake.
I been movin’ calm, don’t start no trouble with me
Tryna keep it peaceful is a struggle for me
Don’t pull up at 6 AM to cuddle with me
You know how I like it when you lovin’ on me
I don’t wanna die for them to miss me
Yes I see the things that they wishin’ on me
Hope I got some brothers that outlive me
They gon’ tell the story, shit was different with me
God’s plan, God’s plan
Here’s the video. It’s really good: