Gotta Serve Somebody

Carlos joined us for our Free Store conversation on Wednesday morning and said that we were going to begin a study of the biblical book of Romans.  Joelle noticed that this book was actually a letter written to the Romans.  At this Carlos asked us, "Where did the Romans live?"  After an awkward pause Rick looked at Carlos with a quizzically disdainful look and said, "In Rome" which made us laugh.

Somehow this led to a bit of a discussion about different cultures.  Carlos said that Rome was in Italy and that a culture is really just a system that structures our lives.  At this I talked about my Italian friend Sergio who likes to gives man hugs and to kiss on the cheek which always makes me uncomfortable.  Our friend Eddie said that in South Carolina they would build back yard bonfires.  He said that in Clover where he is from that people would build bonfires on each side of the street and just go from house to house like a big family party.

At this point Carlos brought us back to Romans and said that the letter was written by a guy named Paul.  We talked about how at one time Paul had been persecuting christians but then became one himself.  Someone said that we would call a person like that a religious fanatic or terrorist today.

Carlos pointed out that Paul referred to himself as a slave of Jesus.  He said that slavery was very negative from our point of view but that ultimately we are all slaves to something or another it's just a question if we have a good master or not.  He said that we could be a slave of Bank of America and do whatever they told us just for a paycheck.  At this Rick mentioned the lyric of a Bob Dylan song, "you're gonna have to serve somebody" which made us smile.

"You may be a construction worker working on a home
You may be living in a mansion or you might live in a dome
You might own guns and you might even own tanks
You might be somebody’s landlord, you might even own banks

But you’re gonna have to serve somebody, yes indeed
You’re gonna have to serve somebody
Well, it may be the devil or it may be the Lord
But you’re gonna have to serve somebody"

Our friend George said, "I ain't never been a slave, but I been locked up.  I don't like nobody tellin me when to eat and sleep.  I like to eat when I want and do what  I want" which made us laugh.

We talked a bit at this point about how Paul was sent by God on a mission and that he had a purpose in life.  Our friend Joelle said that Paul was an entrepreneur because he did something that nobody else was doing at the time.  Eddie said that last year after his wife died that he had a warrant out on him so he turned himself in and served his time.  He told us that he then went to live with his dad but got thrown out and ended up here in Charlotte.  He said, "I'm pointed in the right direction now but just have to figure out what to do."

Carlos suggested that the key to finding our purpose in life was finding freedom from the things that held us back.  He said that we all have desires that if not controlled can lead us astray.  At this Eddie told us about his tattoos which mean, "I'm half alive, half dead."  On the right side of his body he has tattoos that symbolize witchcraft and paganism and things that he used to do that got him into trouble.  On the left side where his heart is he has the symbol of a dove and the serenity prayer which he finds inspiring.

As the conversation moved to a conclusion someone mentioned a sermon by Tony Campolo, a popular Baptist preacher.  The sermon is titled, "It's Friday but Sunday's Comin" and reminds us that no matter how difficult things may be that our lives matter and that God is with us and things do get better.  No matter how deep the shit we can always shovel our way out of it.