After creating heaven and earth, God created Adam and Eve. First thing he said was, “Don’t.”

“Don’t what?” Adam replied.

“Don’t eat the forbidden fruit,” God said.

“Forbidden fruit? We have forbidden fruit? Hey, Eve, we have forbidden fruit!”

“No way!”

“Yes, way!”

“Do NOT eat the fruit!” said God

“Why?”

“Because I am your Father and I said so!” God replied, wondering why he had not stopped creation after making the elephants.

A few minutes later, God saw His children having an apple break and He was angry! “Didn’t I tell you not to eat the fruit?” God, as our first parent, asked His children.

“Uh huh,” Adam replied.

“Then why did you?” said the Father.

“I don’t know,” said Eve.

“She started it!” Adam said.

“Did not!” said Eve.

“Did too!”

“DID NOT!”

Having had it with the two of them, God’s punishment was that Adam and Eve should have children of their own. This should be fun, thought God.

Thus, the pattern was set and it has never changed! But there is reassurance in this story. If you, as God does it, have persistently and lovingly tried to give your children wisdom and they haven’t taken to it, don’t be too hard on yourself, either. Just wait, realizing one day they will have children of their own.

I have already planted my mini-gardens and now is the time of year when many of the “crops” are ripe and ready for my use. Think I will fancy pack some of the surplus veggies to share them with my closest friends and neighbors. Others always seem to enjoy receiving homegrown, free samples from my flowerbed gardens. Free samples of peppers, red potatoes, green beans, carrots, radishes and leaf lettuce just make the folks who receive them become human bundles of joy to me. They usually beam with sun-filled smiles at my little garden gifts.

Here’s wishing you a wonderful July 4th with some of the best things in life being the free things of life.

I wanted to add something more to my blog about Billy: I spent many hours with Billy and witness first hand the treatment he received from others. Many took advantage of his goodness to mistreat him. Some teased and poked fun at him. Some with seemingly lots more money and possessions seemed to either instantly become annoyed with Billy, acting verbally aggressive toward him and even became physically violent toward him. I actually started to wonder who was more mentally off, those with money or those like Billy? He was not begging for food nor for money. He was basically always trying to stay out of the way and trying hard to be where he was without bothering any one while those with the most treated him most hatefully.

One more item to add: I often made my own coffee at home to save money, while often complaining about the too high cost of Starbucks coffee. I drink a lot of coffee, throughout my day, so saving money on it has been a priority, especially theses days, but now, after witnessing the mercy and respect the Culver City, Ca., Venice Street, Starbucks employees give to Billy and worse-off homeless people than Billy-I am willing and too glad to pay any price for a Starbucks’ cup of coffee! The beautiful lesson of KINDNESS I witnessed from those employees at that Starbucks makes me, now, a most loyal and avid fan of all Starbucks coffee! Worth any price to see and know that kind of positive example exists in today’s world!
jacqueline.clark3@hotmail.com
jclark3
1

I wanted to add something more to my blog about Billy: I spent many hours with Billy and witness first hand the treatment he received from others. Many took advantage of his goodness to mistreat him. Some teased and poked fun at him. Some with seemingly lots more money and possessions seemed to either instantly become annoyed with Billy, verbally were aggressive toward him and even became physically violent toward him. I actually started to wonder who was more mentally off, those with money or those like Billy? He was not begging for food nor for money. He was basically always trying to stay out of the way and trying hard to be where he was without bothering any one while those with the most treated him most hatefully.

He was very presentable, wearing a clean, unwrinkled blue dress shirt, newish looking blue jeans with shiny dress shoes. His hair was clean and well groomed, styled and he was clean-shaven. Later, I learned he has a very complex routine for personal care which he has perfected over time and which explains why he is so well groomed. As I stood near him, because it was elbow-to-elbow room only, he glanced up acknowledging me with his eyes and nodded toward me. We began a conversation while I waited my turn in line. I thought it would be our one and only conversation at the time, but I was wrong about that. Really, I was both intrigued and surprised to learn from Billy in that first conversation, that he was a working poor, homeless person living in his van while suffering from schizophrenia. I can be a very good listener, I had lots of time to kill and Billy really wanted to talk, so I learned a lot about him, rather quickly.

Billy eventually reported to me that he has suffered homelessness and the condition of Schizophrenia for the past ten years, although from what he actually told me about himself, I believe it has been longer than that amount of time for at least the Schizophrenia. He allowed me to read what he had so intensely been typing into his lap top computer and I definitely could see he had issues-real mental issues.

He rather compulsively types pages and pages, working longer than a forty hour a week job would ever require of him, completing what at first appears to be capitalized rantings made up of parts of love song lyrics, parts of Bible verses and signage out takes which he either gets from somewhere on line or from his own very professional photographs. He makes a collage like mix of these, both in his writings and in art-like-quality photo collages, which he also spends a great amount of his time designing. His writing and his photo collages seem, at first, to be just non-sense, until one listens to his explanations of them, really listens to him. After Billy explains what they mean, what his intended message is for his writings and his photo collages, one can actually begin to decode what he is trying to convey in them.

Overtime, and after really listening to Billy, one learns that he is suffering from a mental disease and chooses to cope with his mental disease and his homeless condition in a most positive manner. He uses the talents and gifts, which he does possess while not focusing on his problems. He does not drink, smoke or use illegal drugs and often encourages others around him to avoid these, too. Using his Christian faith and writing or doing art whenever he cannot find handyman jobs to do, is his answer to what he suffers. It’s what he does just to live one day at a time under his circumstances. Billy is completely about living in peace, love, having faith in God and finding a reliable job, while he suffers a very unusual mental flaw.

I grew to admire Billy and realized we have more in common than not. Billy is a dedicated artist, hard-working writer and a confident believer in God who actively relies on his own faith every day, each day just for his survival. He is never mean in any way to anyone else. He “just is”, as he says it best, about himself. He is, for me, a real and human reminder to love others as Jesus loves people, right where they are, just as they are; love them without prejudging, without judging them at all. Actually, Billy challenged me to, “just love people”, both by his words and by the way he lives through each day as a homeless, schizophrenic man of love and faith.

After “hanging with” Billy for several days and many hours in those days, I found that Billy had lucid moments, moments of clarity when he too knows and can tell you that he has something “wrong “ in his head, in his thinking, mentally. One would expect bitterness, anger, or at least some complaining from Billy’s rational and sane realization about himself, but nothing of that comes from him. He consistently projects peace, love, belief in God and a desire to find a reliable job for himself.

Finally, if you are fortunate enough to find my Billy or one of your own, most likely at a Starbucks coffee shop, please at least buy him a cup of coffee or better yet, buy him gas for his van so he can get to work. Knowing that Billy is harmless, but struggling to live The Jesus Way-to live in a loving way the life he has been dealt, maybe one could give him that reliable job he so badly needs while one works to accept a person like Billy, flaws and all, just as he is, choosing to see his goodness over his challenges. In the end, if you can do this for a person like Billy, my experience of it proves, it is you who can be blessed more than Billy by helping him!