Short List
Like a necklace, the white string of lights blink on and off below the S. Main Mini Market. Spaces in between blight and bling. The short list gets you inside. The dated marquee reads: beer & sodas, cigarettes, coffee and hot sandwiches. The bagginess of Christian ‘Beans’ Marrero Titan’s sports jacket, hoodie and pants style his hip-hop appearance. A retail collection of brand advertisements. Silver shoes with red laces are posted on the eroded, white coated crosswalk.
Off the curb and into the street, Beans stands in the South Main neighborhood heavily populated with people like him: Puerto Rican. Dressings cover our true identity like a bodega’s awning. Dressings cover the true identity of sonship like St. Anne’s bricks of tradition. Let the light be our blessing. Upon the first viewing of Beans the short list of assumptions gets dumped: Drug dealer & Drunk, Loosies, Gangbanger and Dangerous. You don’t know. Recheck the truth. It’s jaywalking outside the acute, uneasy path.
In the book of first Samuel, “For the Lord sees not as man sees: man looks on the outward appearance, but the Lord looks on the heart.” The first questions out of someone’s mouth usually starts with “Who makes those shoes?” and “Oh my god, I love your outfit.” Clickbait. Fashioned language gets released from deceptive hearts based on what attire gets drafted off the hangers. If Beans were to lift up his hoodie hearts would stop from the graphic ten-inch scar permanently cut into his chest. Deeper than ink artwork on the epidermis. What’s found there is the instrument set up like a drum beat. The Maker’s mark on each rare rhythm is set on worship in the Son with nothing to eclipse our short clips span.
Beans had open heart surgery at St. Mary’s hospital. The operation table was his deathbed. Bean’s brother told Jacob to come to the hospital as soon as possible because the doctors didn’t know if he was going to make it. Jacob Barbour and Pastor Steve went to go pray with Beans on his deathbed. He couldn’t speak. He couldn’t open his eyes. He couldn’t breathe on his own. Jacob and Steve laid their hands on his leg and arm. Like a scene in a film, Bean’s lifeless body began to move.
Jacob and Steve left the hospital and continued to intercede for Beans. When they returned a week later Bean’s eyes opened. The doctors couldn’t believe how well and fast he was recovering. Beans was excited to see Jacob and Steve beside his bed. God made a miracle in his body and raised him from the dead. In this significant moment Beans gladly gave his life to Jesus. He held in the fiery tears. On West Clay Street, underneath the street garments is a repentant heart. The moldable clay has now been given fine linen, bright and clean to wear for a forthcoming celebration.
Beans is full of energy. He knows how to celebrate. The high frequency of attending parties made him the life of the party, but all the wrong parties. He showed up at every Spanish club featuring bachata and salsa music. Everyone loved being around him and soon became a Waterbury landmark because of his outgoing personality. He knew everyone and everyone knew him. His theatrical facial expressions animates people around him. Beans is passionate about anything he does. God had to stop his heart in order to restore it. He gave him a new heart and filled it with his love. Upon the crosswalk, Beans is beaming the love of Jesus. The life of the party now centers on the one who is greater than the throngs of ones who’ve gone through tribulation. They’ve been washed clean by dipping them in the blood of the Lamb. It’s what outlasts brass.
Like a red and white striped fiberglass flag Bean’s reflective story stands next to a fire hydrant. His location is instantly visible both day and night. The living water could burst out at any moment whether in deep winter snow or during the humid heat of summer with vegetation overgrowth. Oh boy, in all seasons: joy is wet completion. Out of the big city’s belly, an endless supply flows through massive water tunnels. Tap into trusting the appeared life. Let’s get the short list of staples from the bodega: Jesus & whoever, faith, hope and love.