First Love
In the Japanese garden lined with boulders and irregular grey slate slabs Jim Eney (e-knee) sits at the corner of a nine-foot picnic table. Missional discipleship is raised up strong like the six-foot Literati Bonzai tree. The trunk’s growth patterns have dramatic curves like living in intentional community with ten different men. Its refined elegance has been created by all the twists and turns.
Like the tray-planted Literati Bonsai, Jim and his wife Janet have been repotted in the Culver House all the way from Portland, Oregon according to the potter’s hand. When Steve Petermeyer cheerfully told Jim, “We got the house” against the other leasing applicants Jim practically replied, “Good, how are we going to pay for it?” Replanting their lives was partially based on trusting the Lord’s prompting in the form of Janet’s dream. The word “Culver” means dove and directions descended like a dove for the Lord’s holiness to dwell among the ones who call the Culver House home. What you hear in a whisper, announce on the rooftops before the family of raccoons follow one another across the composition of grey shingles because it will disappear like the stroke of a dry eraser. Month after month the housemates’ names are written in red, blue and green on the white board. Over time they change. Consider the chores both day and night, piles of plates and mugs, bacon grease splattered on the wide range of marble countertops. Whether it’s unchecked or marked with an X there’s a joy quotient existing on your decision to cover the duty, or not.
Backlit Ginkgo fan-shaped leaflets transform into perfect circles through the lens. The simplest of settings give reflective glimpses on how the Lord’s face shines upon us. Time spent with the revelation Jesus will expose who we really are with an agreement to a talk and text plan. Jim enlightened my understanding about Jesus when he told me my use of exposure is aligned with your camera work. Jim likes coffee so much his closest friends call him, “Caff-Eney.” But first love, then coffee.
Inside a spacious donation, an early 2000s Black Tahoe a church sticker left on the back transparent backshield keeps “Reality” transmitting a Max De Pree quote, “The first responsibility of a leader is to define reality. The last is to say thank you. In between, the leader is a servant.” Boneparte surrenders to Glencoe through the streets not far from the Culver House. Abbot Kinney, the cut through street leads to Venice Boulevard next to Zinque not far from the Pacific. Windward Avenue where the Venice sign hangs above the street, Jim and I split a raspberry danish over his Americano and my latte filled just above the rim with a full-screen heart. Soon bubbles age the symbol like a shore wave pulling back into liquid togetherness. Mr. Nicely made them from behind the egg-shell blue La Marzocco. The needle traveled miles between the grooves. Outside the swinging screen porch door oak barrels stand on the gum spotted sidewalk for snap conversations in the diverse settler’s town.
In Del Rey, take a walk together down nine blocks with the King: Panama St., Alla Rd., Bonaparte Ave., to Mascagni Street. Talk the walk. Believable authority goes as high up as it goes down in fleshly form dwelling among us. The longest running theatrical message shows this resurrection life by getting to know the only true God and Jesus Christ whom he sent. The proper translation will lead you into relationship and into the kingdom. Questions filter through the porous charcoal of discernment like Brita. The answer fills every glass tumbler with living water. My response is awestruck wonder scaled by how the Lord fosters the people. Keeps us lit.
Who sits before you? Pulling up your account is not comfortable. The active word of God like the Katana sword leaves you susceptible to being filleted in one way or another. The green needles fall to the blue tarp surrounding the gnarly Literati trunk like a Christmas blanket. In the am, every Friday the aged Asian gardener quietly sheds expertise. Pruning the Literati shapes each branch with a symphony sound. One clip could mean life over ruin. Nothing is hidden. There has been times where I am afraid of engaging in dialogue with another person for what may happen during the exchange. First love removes the tension and approves love economy.
After turning off the spigot on the stainless steel water dispenser I brought out two waters to our table. Within a couple of minutes Jim said he thinks I am a body mechanic. “Just think about what that means,” He further explained, “You’ve been working on the young men and the people in the Culver community.” Jim looked at me with his squinty blue eyes and folded wrestling arms. His powerful hugs remind me more of a headlock than affection. After the meeting is adjourned at the hand-made picnic table the journey continues to the next clips however long the stay because the mainstay of the accommodation is stay in the story by faith until the commission beckons you to go.