Mixed Messages

I escaped for lunch today only to witness my fate. Based on this man's message, most of us are doomed if we don't repent!

This is the first time I have seen this man on Nicolette Avenue. He must have arrived whilst I was on the West Coast earlier this week. I spoke with him and his name is John, as in the bible he added. He told me he is here to save people from themselves. An interesting concept.

I have nothing against religion and I freely practice mine and respect the religion of others. In the end, I think I have the values that most religions promote. My theory is that it is probably good to be religious and, if one does not want to be religious, one should be spiritual and, if not spiritual, one should be kind and generous and forgiving. After all, isn't that what religion is all about.

Based on my conversation with him, John believes in his message and his method of delivering such. He informed me that he will likely be on this corner for most of the summer. He thought that is the best way to get his message through to those that "do not believe in the Bible".

I am not sure. I applaud him for the courage to act on his beliefs but I wanted to ask him if he truly believed wearing a placard in the middle of the street was actually going to alter the course of any individual in his midst other than himself. I wondered if it might be more effective to deliver his message in a more personal way. But, as I debated with myself the value of such questions, this man in the blue shirt and baseball cap started to converse with John. Soon, he was in John's face with intensity, challenging him not on the existence of a God nor of the need for religion. Rather he asked John "what honestly are you trying to accomplish by your foolish ways". The man in the blue shirt started where I chose to leave off but his intensity was a bit much.

When I returned from lunch, I asked John to pose for a portrait. He did. I noticed two things when I downloaded the image. His baseball cap said "cover your breasts". I was delighted I wore a shirt to work today. But in the right background of the image, on his bench, I saw Duff who I had blipped a few weeks ago.

This is a small planet with nothing but mixed messages.