I have a men's breakfast group that meets every Thursday morning to study scripture, fellowship, circulate prayer requests, and eat. About a year ago we were joined briefly by Jean-Claude —a gentleman there for the AA meeting in the back room. He has joined us six or eight times since then—each encounter different than the one before it, but each has left me with an undeniable need to pursue God in deeper, probably newer ways. This poem is a result of one of those encounters.

Shine!
because you never know who
you’re going to run into

because you never know
who is going to be paying attention

right before uttering the “most rock scream ever”
Pritzl sings:
We’ve got the sun
So let it shine
We’ve got the way
To make you sing
We’ve got the sounds
The hope they bring
We’ve got the sun
So let it shine

let it begin inside me

on mornings where my plan
is different from yours
let it begin

on mornings where the mountain top is in my sight
but my heart so easily slips to the valley
let it begin

on mornings like last Thursday
a morning set aside to fellowship
to break bread and to study scripture
salt and light

let it begin

when I am not prepared for his presence
let alone yours
let it begin

inside me
Jean-Claude
German-Haitian, chain-smoking, opera-singing
recovering addict

one who dominates conversation
Tourette’s ticks, stories of his missionary parents
memorized scripture

on this day
Burke’s car, his silhouette
Cory’s walk, paused on the sidewalk

and a third
who?
Jean-Claude
a guaranteed tangent

what would it be today?

God for sure
in a rambling, random
stream of consciousness

at first
the Seahawks, and pistol Pete
his idol, the man whose game mirrors his own
bummer he died in a pickup game

and then his home
he’s losing his home

federal trumps
local, medicinal, terminal
debilitating

three days to vacate
ten to make his case
four months after he made his prescription known
HUD v. medicinal marijuana
and we
all of a sudden his counsel
his brothers
discussing governmental logic
compassion, was he going to move
back home?

in the middle of breakfast
he prayed
for our hearts
the hearts and lives of our families

his hands warm
grip strong, tears
words of passion and conviction

yet not for his situation
for us and ours

a few months back
he looked at me and asked
“Do you know what they’re armed with
at the gates?”

what, Jean-Claude?
what are they armed with?

he stood
pounded the table
spun, danced, yelled

“The WORD of GOD!”

the Word to us last Thursday
was supposed to be
Matthew 5:13-16

and it was
in a way that was much deeper than
I had expected

from The Message
verses 14-16 are:

You're here to be light,
bringing out the God-colors in the world.
God is not a secret to be kept.
We're going public with this,
as public as a city on a hill.
If I make you light-bearers,
you don't think I'm going to hide you under a bucket,
do you?
I'm putting you on a light stand.
Now that I've put you there on a hilltop,
on a light stand –
shine!

Sara and sister gave me tattoo gift certificates for Christmas
they’re calling my bluff
after years of talking about getting a tattoo
I’m going to actually have to do it now
the money is spent

and I actually said this on New Year’s Eve
in tattoo conversation with one of my best friends

“I’m gonna get a big old cross
on my left shoulder
because I want my faith to be out there
to be dangerous
but I still want to be able to hide it when I need to…”

What did Jesus say?

You’re here to be light.
Bringing out the God-colors in the world.
God is not a secret to be kept.
If I make you light-bearers,
you don’t think I’m going to hide you under a bucket,

do you?

SHINE!

Jean-Claude shines
somehow through delusion, disease
addiction, loneliness, uncertainty, fear

Jean-Claude, through it all
has the song, and the sun
and he lets it shine

Thursday morning’s unplanned time
initially, unwanted time

God used that time
with Jean-Claude reminded me
that I need to shine

because you never know who
you’re going to run into

because you never know
who is going to be paying attention