Everything is West of Here?

"But seek first God's kingdom and God's righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well." Matthew 6:33- NIV

This week, the Dwellers and I went on a silent prayer walk down Hollywood Boulevard.  We started at the Kodak Theater, walked slowly eastward past desperate star-tour peddlers ("I ask for half of what all the people on that block charge"), windows with "surgically-augmented" dominatrix-clad mannequins, past wide-eyed tourists looking up at the lights, down at the stars.  

Upon reaching the famed Hollywood and Vine corner, one sidewalk-seller says to me, "everything you're looking for is west of here."  Of course, she assumed I was a tourist as I'm sure I looked rather aimless.  Indeed, I had no real agenda or direction, just observing, praying, listening.

After all, west of that intersection is the Chinese Theater, Michael Jackson's star, El Capitan.  There's Hollywood & Highland, the West Coast wanna-be Times Square. Slightly further is ground zero for the Oscar's, where miles of red carpet has rolled over the sidewalks and streets.  A bedazzling attraction, where love looks like paparazzi flashes and sounds like the chatter of entertainment reporters.  But is that everything I'm looking for?  

South of that intersection is Gregory Avenue, a street where everyone knows your name, home of our Dwellers, of la Casa de la Comunidad, a house that leans over to love you, even if you're a teenager who tries to prove yourself unlovable.  There's a tree down in that garden which sometimes produces lemons, sometimes limes (it's either grafting, or some cyclical miracle.) North of that intersection is the University of Montana, where 9 college kids decided to sacrifice vacation time and drive down as a Discover group, trekking through snowy mountains to meet and delight in the tales of homeless folks, walk in their shoes for a minute, make use of their hands for greeting and giving and open their hearts for listening and receiving.  (More photos here.)  East of that intersection is Homeboy Industries, where they hire gangsters & ex-cons to bake cookies and breads, run restaurants, run businesses, encourage their peers, stop bullets with jobs.

Tom and Josh make new friends at Union Rescue Mission on Skid Row. 

And east of that intersection is Hollywood Presbyterian Church, where we were headed. That's the spot that God had smacked me upside-the-head when I was seeking rock-star fame, treasure that fades and dims like flash bulbs, dies down like applause.  On this prayer walk, at this intersection, a familiar old crossroads feeling swells up.  I'm deeply involved in a new search as our home flirts with foreclosure and our nerves fray over discerning what's best for us and our 15-month-old baby girl.  I recognize that I've been grasping for security and stability in finances and real-estate.  I see how I'm spinning myself into something that can be, sadly, rather unlovable.  

Be still.  Seek first the Kingdom.  It's the same search this time as it was years ago.  Only the props are different.

Nothing like one of Emma's home-cooked meals after a long service day.  

We continued eastward.  I continue to wrestle my focus towards treasure that lasts.  I suspect it sounds something like out-of-town college guys laughing when a middle-school girl from the neighborhood schools them in HORSE.  I'm hoping it smells like warm chicken tostadas after a day sorting donated winter coats alongside formerly homeless folks for currently homeless children.  I know it looks like the smile from my daughter, from my wife, when I walk in the door after this long, hard day.

Thank God that we're designed to encourage and redirect one another, especially when we start losing our way  - Matthew

Meeting our new homeless friend RD, hearing about how social media is changing the dialogue on homelessness.  She tweets here: Lost Awareness