City Musings

1. Walking to the gym the other day I saw the younger Japanese man owner of the sushi restaurant around the corner bow to the older Japanese owner of a convenience store across the alley. It was very early in the morning, and I felt I had stumbled upon some private sacred ritual that conveyed such a deep respect for the humanity recognized in the other.

2. Although I know that the line in the old hymn says that "his eye is on the sparrow", but I have pigeons with mangled feet in my neighborhood, and I don't think that God would mind if I sang "his eye is on the pigeon" as the meaning of this is far more radical and relevant. I can't imagine giving a second glance to a pigeon in Los Angeles.

3. Brad and I did our Church alternative last week by walking through skid row and praying. I noticed several instances of the words "holy ground" written on buildings and trash cans along the way. Could skid row be holy because the people in this neighborhood are closer to holiness by the obvious nature of their dependence?

4. How responsible am I for the human rights abuses that must occur in the garment district that is my neighborhood? The other day I saw a flyer posted on the building next to ours that stated that if you were being forced to work against your will you could take one of the the phone numbers written on little sheets of paper below. A few were torn off.