“GROUP OF SEVEN” STEW (2016)
One dark night, a young park ranger came upon a camp of elderly men while on the way to his own campfire about a mile to the north. As was his habit, he stopped to talk and soon found himself served up with a most delicious stew. He asked for the recipe, and this is what he was told:
James brings the spuds, and Frank brings the onions. Alex adds the celery; Fred, the carrots; and Arthur, the mushrooms. A.J. brings the sweet potato, “’cause he likes ‘em”, and Lawren the beef because Tom can’t bring the moose meat. We all drink one glass of wine to remember Tom, and we toss his glass of wine into the mix. We cook it up over the campfire all day and feast under a cold, clear, September sky, at night; just like Tom always wanted.
Jim Davis
Copyright Protected
IT WAS ON A NIGHT LIKE THIS (2018)
Prelude:
A Toronto church’s warm and comforting Christmas Pageant is underway. It is an ages old story about the dangerous journey to Bethlehem for Mary and Joseph, leading to the imminent birth of Baby Jesus. Now clearly God loves Mary, her unborn child, and Joseph, and God holds them close, keeping them safe. Outside the cathedral, however, a parallel story unfolds. This one involves the dangerous reality of living on the streets of Toronto for Marie, Joey, and a much younger abandoned street kid whose name is Manny. Does God love Marie and Joey and possibly even Manny? Does God hold them close? Does God care for their safety, on this cold and rainy mid-December night?
It was on a night like this, two thousand years ago. The winter’s cold had settled in, and the darkness of night crept over the land a little sooner – as it would with each passing day for the rest of the journey.
“2 In those days Caesar Augustus issued a decree that a census should be taken of the entire Roman world. 3 And everyone went to their own town to register. 4 So Joseph also went up from the town of Nazareth in Galilee to Judea to Bethlehem the town of David because he belonged to the house and line of David. 5 He went there to register with Mary, who was pledged to be married to him and was expecting a child.”
Luke 2: 1 – 5 New International Version Bible.
And it was on a night like this outside St. James Cathedral, Toronto. A cold winter wind was blowing, and there was a hint of bad weather settling in for the night before the Christmas morning. Three street kids shuffled down Adelaide from Parliament. Their night was dragging on- and with it the hunger of the day lingered cruelly in their bellies.
Food was usually easier and fresher to find at the end of shifts and the edge of the business day. On wet and windswept December nights such as this, the downtown streets of Toronto were largely emptied; the tide had receded, no one was watching – no one cared. Joey and Marie both understood from experience that you just had to know where to look to find tossed, uneaten food. Finding safe shelter ’till morning was a much harder thing… Sleep would have to wait for the new day and a public place to curl up in a known hidden corner or familiar stairwell and the safe light of day.
It was a long and difficult journey on foot for Mary and Joseph. They had only the aid of a donkey to transport their essential supplies and to give Mary some respite from the hours of walking while carrying her unborn child. Mary had packed small dried wheat cakes, some unleavened bread, a small bunch of figs, and a few dried fish to do for food over the next few days. They had a small skin of water to drink and to moisten their food during the journey. It would be safer travelling during the early mornings and early evenings; fewer bandits in the early morning and fewer soldiers in the evening – essentially for the same reasons of drunkeness and fatigue. Mary and Joseph kept out of direct line of sight, each mid-day, to briefly eat and to graze the donkey. They had no room for oil or a lamp, but neither did they want to attract the attention of strangers or bandits as the nights settled in. Their sleep would always be cold, guarded, and hidden by total darkness.
Manny seemingly had no festive memories of Christmas, and Marie was really not sure why. He never uttered a word, making it even harder to know why. Marie had noticed his unresponsive gaze or his apparent lack of caring. Bustling shoppers – some even with sparkling gift-wrapped packages, … and any of the suited sidewalk Santas were all utterly meaningless to her little friend. Marie had even shown Manny the Christmas card she had found lost or thrown away. It was a card no longer clean, crisp and ready for the giving. Soiled and stained with street-grime, worn and warped by abandonment and the harsh elements, the card seemed no longer to be of any value to anyone – perhaps only valued by Marie, alone, in the whole wide world. That one hope of a card she alone valued was why she kept it safe and protected it closest to her each day and night. And that’s how she felt about Manny, too. Joey understood; he was a good man, and Marie loved him because he really helped her take care of Manny.
Bethlehem was a small town with few available lodgings for the night; many visitors were there, due to the census. Arriving late in the evening of the fourth day, just before night descended upon them, Mary and Joseph were tired, and Mary knew her time was at hand to give birth to her child – God’s son. Desperate to find shelter and warmth from the cold night air, Joseph finally found room in an old stable behind the very last inn on the edge of town. It wasn’t much but it was enclosed and dry and warm from the breath and body heat of the animals tethered there for the inn’s paying guests. And there was light – light from a lamp, lent to them by the compassionate inn keeper. The precious light pushed back the darkness in the enclosed and hidden safety of that stable.
“8 And there were shepherds living out in the fields nearby, keeping watch over their flocks at night. 9 An angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified. 10 But the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid. I bring you good news that will cause great joy for all the people. 11 Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is the Messiah, the Lord. 12 This will be a sign to you: You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger.”
Luke 2: 8 – 12 New International Version Bible.
A blast of icy rain in that blackness of Toronto’s night suddenly signalled a greater danger for the three street kids, as they approached the darkness of a deserted St. James Park. They cut across Jarvis, down the paved pathway and ran up onto the park band stand that was there. Cold, and now wet, they needed to find immediate shelter and at least some warmth on this perilous night or there would be no morning. Joey pulled out his two garbage bag ponchos from his jacket pockets and wrapped one around Manny and the other around Marie. He would have to wait, and the cold seeped deeper into his bones.
Catching his breath, Joey looked up and saw the lighted stained-glass windows of St. James Cathedral, across and just to the west of the park – lit up for a Christmas Eve service. He pointed towards the light streaming through the darkness and the rain. The light shone through the windows that were normally darkened and grey during daytime and most nights, but now they shone with a promise of warmth and refuge just beyond the massive stone walls and the heavy wooden doors. He shouted to Marie above the rising fury of the wind and rain sweeping down on them.
“We’ve got to go in there! It’s too late to find somewhere else! We have to get out of this wind and the rain now, Marie, or we’ll freeze to death out here!”
Marie looked up and saw the shining windows, as well, and she felt the card nestled beside her skin. She thought of the light and the warmth shining out from a distant lowly stable and her beautiful card then opening… revealing safe shelter, an enveloping warmth and precious light for Mary and Joseph and a little baby.
What if…Marie wondered… as she reached into her shirt to touch her precious card for reassurance. Together with Joey, and holding Manny’s hands, they all ran for the shelter of the old church doorway, heaved ajar the heavy slab and entered directly into the main aisle of that towering church. Wonderment, warmth, and the sounds of singing displaced their fear and trembling.
Manny, followed closely by Marie and Joey, started slowly walking up the centre aisle, clearly oblivious to the congregation seated in the stained and pitted pews. Manny was captivated by the scene up at the altar, and Marie and Joey were, as well, but they were watching what Manny was doing. They very slowly proceeded and stopped just beside an older woman and her husband, who together, always sat in the same pew over the years, and who were joyfully engaged in singing “Silent Night”.
“Oh, My Dear God! You’re soaking wet! Jack, hand me my coat…and yours, as well”.
“Right! Let’s get those wet jackets off! Here, put these on; they’ll warm you up. Trevor, pass me that other coat for the little boy.”
“His name is Manny”, Marie shyly offered.
A third smaller child’s winter coat made its way to the flurry. Suddenly, Manny was warm and being held close. He looked up towards the end of the great aisle, still captivated by what he saw. It was Marie’s card! It was warmth and light! It was safety and belonging! It was joy and thanksgiving! … And it was … the baby. All this, as he made his way solemnly up to where the pageant had been unfolding at a crudely fashioned cradle near the great altar.
Manny, followed by Marie, Joey, the wife and the husband all started to slowly approach the wondrous Pageant Scene, compelled by some seemingly unseen force. Manny was transfixed by Mary and the baby. Marie and Joey were transfixed by Manny, with only fleeting gazes towards the nativity scene. The two adults were transfixed by the street kids silently approaching the nativity scene that they, themselves, had always viewed from a distant church pew.
Joey and Marie had followed Manny without a word, as had the two faithful who had just helped the soaked children. They had all stopped near the scene of the manger; all held in that moment by the scene displayed before them.
And then, in a voice both humble and sincere, Manny spoke and gently asked the young mother in the scene
“May I please come closer to see the baby?”
“Yes… Please come and sit down right here beside me, and you can hold him close to you”.
Manny moved and sat down beside Helen, the pageant’s Mother of Jesus. Marie and the two parishioners remained standing slightly beside Joey and Richard – Josephs, both, of this night’s pageant story. The congregation rose as one, on cue, as an introduction for the upcoming hymn resounded.
And suddenly “Joy to the World” was shaking the very beams and rafters of that solid great church cathedral.
Jim Davis
Copyright Protected
Jim Davis Creative Arts: Paintings, Poetry, Prose, and Commentary 