The Cathedral of the Homeless Saint

The Cathedral of the Homeless Saint | © Preston Lewis Thomas

Faith.

The belief in the existence of a truth we cannot truly know. 
Paradox tumbling from the sky like rain… again.
 
I believe in Faith, which is to say that I believe in belief.
 
But I am not a religious man, at least not in the general sense. I do not believe in the idea of an omnipotent and jealous being watching over me. I do not believe for even one minute that we were “born in sin” or in the idea that we must somehow atone for being born in the first place. I believe that Heaven and Hell are opposite sides of the same coin, and that perspective is everything.
 
I believe that for better or for worse, we are the architects of our lives, and these lives are what we continually make of them.
 
I believe in Faith.
 
The artist Laurie Anderson once spoke of walking and falling. The idea that with each step, we fall forward slightly and then catch ourselves from falling. We do this over and over - and this is what we call walking.
 
The act of falling forward and Faith that we will catch ourselves from falling… we are motionless without it. Perhaps a lack of Faith equals paralysis.
 
I have no idea what so captivates the subject of this photograph. She sits in this bus shelter with her belongings as more than one bus passes her by. And she does not move except for the lifting of a finger to turn a page. I assume that she is holding a Bible, though the book has no outer markings. 
 
It is old and worn.

Her garments and outsized crucifix are out of context. Perfectly normal within the confines of some great church, but on this evening street, it seems as though she has wandered onto the wrong set in a movie studio.

She does not belong here.
 
My muse is homeless, and perhaps that is the falling.
Immersed in this tattered and torn book, perhaps within she will catch herself from falling.
 
Faith.

Donna - Class of '61

Donna, Class of '61 | © PRESTON LEWIS THOMAS

This is Donna, sitting in front of her brand new computer. She found out that her alma mater, John Adams High School, had a website that would allow her to get in touch with her former classmates. That sounded like great fun, so off to the store she went, and now she owns it.

Donna has never really used a computer.

She takes a seat at the table directly across from me. She removes everything from her bag: laptop, power adapter, mouse, mouse pad, and quick start manual and places it all right in front of her. Then Donna takes one look at my laptop, her eyes light up and she says “Oh! You have a Sony, and I have a Sony. Do you think you could teach me how to use mine?”

I had work to finish, but I couldn’t say no. So for the next hour I did my best to help Donna reconnect to the John Adams High School Class of ’61. After a seriously abridged explanation of computers, internet and WiFi and a couple of failed login attempts, we were in!

From the John Adams website, the Beatles tune “When I’m Sixty-Four” began to play.
Donna says, “I always liked that song. I think it’s their best…”

Hmmm.
I never liked that song, but I kept that to myself.
 

The Staring Contest

THE STARING CONTEST | © PRESTON LEWIS THOMAS

I park next to him in the CVS lot, just across the street from Starbucks, my intended destination.
At a glance, I can see that he’s one of four kids and two adults. He looks directly at me and maintains his gaze as I walk past their vehicle. When I return, having aquired my brownie and triple espresso, he once again locks eyes on me. I decide to return the stare. Game on.

I hop in my car, close the door and instantly turn my head to face my opponent. I narrow my eyes and raise one brow, telegraphing my thoughts “you ain’t gonna win, son.”

Then, he cheats.
My adversary has no scruples.

He rests his chin on the window seal. His eyes soften and widen and he fires a laser beam – that innocent and disarming kid smile.
It’s a direct hit. He’s a sneaky little S.O.B.

I can feel the involuntary grin spreading across my face, and I instinctively reach for my camera. He sees the camera and leans forward just a bit. What a ham! I quickly make a couple of photographs. I want to show my “competitor turned new found friend” what I’ve captured, but most parents ain’t thrilled about the idea of strange men approaching them with pictures of their kids. I decide to stay put.

It then occurs to me that for the entirety of this interaction, not one other person in the car with him has paid either of us any attention.
I put a pin in this thought.

I throw him a smile.
He waves.
I wave back, and drive off.

During the short trip home, I’m visited by a tumult of thoughts. I find that I can’t shake the fact that it’s not the best time to be a young Black boy in the US of A.

A quote from the great James Baldwin comes to mind:
“It comes as a great shock… to discover that the flag to which you have pledged allegiance… has not pledged allegiance to you.”

I just want the kid to grow up.

Blessings and Light

BLESSINGS AND LIGHT | HAVANA, CUBA | © PRESTON LEWIS THOMAS

We passed her sitting on a bench just inside the gates on the Cathedral grounds. Her hands outstretched, hoping to receive. A beggar on the threshold of the house of the Lord. I stared at her as we continued inside, unsure of the proper etiquette. 8:30am and already well into the 80s, fahrenheit, that is. It only took a few short minutes for my shirt to become soaking wet and paste itself to my skin.

I stood in back of the Cathedral, quietly making photographs as services began. When the word “Oramos” (Let us Pray) was spoken, she entered, her gait slightly unsteady, but without hesitation, and walked right down the middle aisle, stopping just about center.

She bowed her head and joined the others in prayer.

“Amen…” and in the same fashion she entered, she turned right around and marched back to the doorway, then paused. She placed her hands on the door frame and leaned slightly forward into the light. I captured this moment just before she stepped back out into the world.

Outside, she took her place on the bench, and all was as it was before. Hands outstretched to passers by, hoping to receive.

A beggar on the threshold of the house of the Lord…
With Blessings.

Havana.

God Must Be A Boogie Man

GOD MUST BE A BOOGIE MAN | © PRESTON LEWIS THOMAS

This man, homeless and finding slumber in perhaps one of the few places that gave him comfort, the entrance to a church.

For me, this circumstance juxtaposed with the words carved in stone, God Is Love, seemed ironic and cruel,
and instantly brought these haunting lyrics about the great, and troubled Charles Mingus to mind:

“He is three
One’s in the middle so unmoved
Waiting
To show what he sees
To the other two
To the one attacking so afraid
And the one that keeps trying to love and trust
And getting himself betrayed
In the plan, oh…
The divine plan
God must be a Boogie Man… ”
–Joni Mitchell, God Must Be a Boogie Man

Morning Light... 314 Aguila Street, Havana

MORNING LIGHT | HAVANA | © PRESTON LEWIS THOMAS

The seventh floor flat we rented had an easterly view, perhaps a bit south of east. Each morning, the sun slowly snaked around the buildings and through the streets of this old city, bringing shadow and light. An appropriate paradox.

Our flat was in Central Havana, a simple neighborhood populated by local folks and scant few tourists. This was just fine. On the street, quiet mornings quickly gave way to the daily “get down” of life in La Habana. School kids, taxis, fruit mongers, construction workers, and shops filled with craftsmen that will repair any and everything… while you get a haircut.

We decided our neighborhood was “sketchy”, but safe. The sketchy part? There was some kind of hustle happening around every corner, folks with stuff to sell. People tryin’ to put a little extra paper in their pockets, or what one should expect in a country with an average monthly salary of $25. The most common offers were of bootleg cigars and weed, followed by cocaine, which I seriously doubt was actually cocaine, and women who promised to make your moments with them ever so memorable for the low, low price of…

I wasn’t mad at ‘em, though. How could I be? I’m from a country built on the kidnapping, blood, sweat, rape, and lynching of people who looked just like me. People who, after their so called emancipation, had nothing but a hustle to live on. Naw, I wasn’t mad at all.

Our guide and companion, our Alejandra, left us at the end of each long, beautiful, and exhausting day by hopping into some random 1950s taxi, already filled with strangers, often men, and riding off into the night. My friend and I never got used to this. It went against every lesson, every cautionary tale, and every survival instinct we’d absorbed during our lives as Black men living in the US. You do NOT send a woman home by herself. And you certainly do not allow her to get into a car full of strange men in the middle of the night… unless, of course, you’re in Havana.

Alejandra, all of 23 years old, a Theatre History professor, an actress who has been in her share of telenovelas, and has performed in a number of The Bard’s plays, and who recited Puck’s closing monologue from A Midsummer Night’s Dream to me one afternoon over coffee, would simply smile each time we protested her preferred mode of travel. She would say “Guys, this is normal. This is what we do. It will be fine. See you in the morning. Ciao!” Hugs and kisses and away she would go.

This place.