Moped Madness! Everyone was setting up tables, getting out food and jackets, while I walked the line, talking with people, hugging folks, asking about their weeks... after doing what I always do, introducing the meal for the night, telling people what a great night it is to be in line, I lifted my arms and invited everyone to join me in prayer... we'd no sooner closed our eyes then the whine of dozens of little engines began to echo through the asphalt and concrete. It was hard to keep my eyes closed to pray. I'm guessing I may have been the only one with my eyes closed. It sounded like we were about to come under attack by a brigade of mini-bikes! Wrapping my prayer up as quickly as possible... without bailing out on God... I opened my eyes to watch the end of dozens of people on matching mopeds ride by... in downtown LA... in the middle of the night... was quick enough to snap this picture. Some were dressed up- others dressed casually -all rode with purpose and many got stopped at our light, where they talked anxiously to one another about wherever and whatever they were about- then, like an afterthought, came two on one moped, little engine whining to keep up, the guy on the back leaning out with a video camera trying to capture their event. I'm guessing whatever they were up to is already posted on youtube this morning. Last week it was the Grammy's, this coming Sunday night it's the Oscars... but last night it was attack of the mopeds! It's always something.

Jodi's Incredible Spaghetti... apple pie... candy for Valentine's Day, hundreds of bagels... we came to the streets with a feast. Still a block or two out and sitting in the van at a red light, I looked over at a man, protected only by cardboard, doing his best to get some sleep. It's a difficult image to adjust to, regardless how many times you see it... just not right... I always think the same thing, "could be me." So many of the men and women in our line are my age and older. Then, behind the cardboard, against the wall of an aging building, I noticed movement. It was a man, who'd been laying on the concrete, fully exposed to the elements, except for what he was wearing on his back. He pulled himself into a sitting position with the tire of his old bike and stared at our van... we caught eyes and quickly recognized one another... that's him in the photo. Rolling down the window, I yelled out to him, he waved his arm back and smiled. Then I told him he'd better get moving if he was going to get a meal tonight... that Jodi had made spaghetti... smiling, doing his best to stand, he said: "That's just what I was fix'n to do. I'll be right there." The light changed and we were gone... When he came through line I asked if I could take his picture- he was happy for the moment. Wearing a little skull with red lights that flashed in the eyes, he made sure they were on... I clicked the picture, a number of us gathered round and looked at the phone's screen to see the shot posted here and we laughed in the darkness. This morning, I can still see his gray beard moving between a cardboard box and concrete wall, working to get his body to move, stiff from the cold, stiff with age, stiff from living on the streets... but "fix'n" to get on his old bike and ride to our corner, to stand in our line, to humble us with his presence... Light in the darkness. Pray that Jackets for Jesus can always be reason enough to wake up off the streets and bring us together. Pray that our little community of Light in dark places can "brighten the corner" God's given us to serve on. People living in poverty wait for someone to remember them while the world zips by on mopeds. Pray that we continue to be a positive reason to wake up.

In the middle of the photo, there's a man wearing a jacket with a bright orange line on it.... that's last night's line and the guy in the red and orange jacket was one of the first men I met last night- he didn't have a jacket -I had pulled that one out of our collection of donated jackets to wear, quickly pulled it off and helped him put it on. Thought he was going to cry... he did what men often do, in pride he refused it for a minute or more, then, realizing I wasn't putting it back on- after I said what I always say: "It's not mine. Someone gave it to me to give to you." He savored the moment. When I look at the photo and write, that's "our" line... I do it with deep humility, pride and thanksgiving. I know I speak for all of us when I say that we love the opportunity to shine in the darkness. I dread the day when my health, circumstances, whatever... might keep me from Jackets for Jesus on Sunday nights. God's been so incredibly good to me... to all of us... could have been me under the cardboard... up against an old bike, on the sidewalk, next to an old building... instead, God's blessed me with wealth, friends, security and the invitation to shine in dark places... to be surrounded by people who give everything, every Sunday night to shine... it's been an amazing opportunity... I never understand why anyone would miss the chance to be in the van, to join us on the corner, to help Jodi in the kitchen, to give to the work generously... God's been good enough to give us the moment... hate the prospect that anyone might sleep through their time to shine. We're going this Sunday night. You're invited. You're needed. Now, more than ever.

for changing lives,

Eric M. Denton

PS

Darlene Sala, incredible Christian writer, friend of Jackets for Jesus and along with her husband Dr. Harold Sala, heads up Guidelines Ministries, recently wrote a beautiful piece on Jackets for Jesus. I've kept the MP3 of it on by Blog this week- but it's coming down Tuesday, click here and listen in if you haven't heard it yet. You'll be blessed just like I was. Thanks Harold and Darlene.