keep God in the equation

today we fed the masses. by 'masses' i mean 3 guys. i love the reactions we get. they just couldn't understand why. why would we approach these 3 out of all the pedestrians roaming around? terry explained, "no strings." read his account here. why weren't there any strings? why them? i was content living the gospel...not verbalizing it. they practically forced me to share the gospel. i told them that the description jesus gave of judgement day was this: i was hungry and you fed me, i was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, i needed clothes and you clothed me. when the righteous asked "when did we do this for you?" jesus replied, "whenever you did it for someone else, you did it for me" (matt. 25:31-46, ben paraphrase version). after that, perk said he needed a job. i told him i did too. i guess the gospel explanation was acceptable because they were all about getting something to eat after that. sonny was the de facto leader. he played the blues. perk was just hanging out...easy going. he smiled a lot. the third man shall remain nameless. only because he wouldn't tell us. he was suspicious that i was an undercover cop. he finally came to the conclusion that if i was a cop, i would've already known him...and he'd know me. although, he did say i looked familiar (???). sonny had a lot to say. "you gots ta keep God in the equation. dat's what it's all 'bout! i don't care if it's blues or rock 'n' roll. it's got ta lift 'Em up!" he wandered around the states playing his harmonica and singing the blues. terry, myself, and the cashier/waitress at benjamin's sandwich shop wanted a preview of sonny's blues. he was obliged to play right there in the restaurant. he'd play a bar or two and then sign in between. impromptu lyrics...mostly dedicated to the waitress. it was sweet! i asked the nameless man where he liked to play- "all over. sonny goes where sonny wants to go. he's real. he doesn't just talk it. he means it." sonny was real. but then again, nameless guy made him sound like an enigmatic ghost, too. no lie, he actually said this about sonny: "you don't find sonny, sonny finds you." i'm intrigued. here he is.


perk was originally from wilmington, but now calls philly home. he was here "when the bus station was on the corner of 4th and washington. lot's changed since then. these buildings for one. no more music here." except for when sonny comes home (yes, that's a lame attempt at referencing shawn colvin's '97 hit). it was a blast keepin' God in the equation.