Jesus, Not Jesús: Finding The Divine In The Space Between Us.
  • Be Kind
  • About this blog
  • About the author
  • Contact
  • Be Kind
  • About this blog
  • About the author
  • Contact

30 People. 30 Days. Day 15: Christian

11/15/2018

0 Comments

 
Picture
Christian. A name suited for him because he was hospitable and kind when I began to talk with him.

​“I looks like the lonely hearts club,” I told him as I say among five people all sitting alone, staring at their phones. All but one. Christian. An ex Marine and an artist. Neither which he set out to do with his life.

When I met Christian he was looking at a drawing book filled with geometric designs. The pages decorated in all different patterns and lines, like his arms. Hoping to get a story, I asked him if he’d design any of his tattoos but he hadn’t. He was new to art. Only about 9 months in his young 31 years.

I recognized by one of his tats that he might be a skater. He was. As in the past tense. Like me, he had enough of the tumbling and falling. Just days after his 30 birthday, Christian suffered a bad accident that had him in the ICU for 5 days. When he came too, Christian learned he had suffered major nerve and brain damage.

​Meeting him, you’d never know he had to relearn how to use the right side of his body all over again. His goal of being a psychiatrist no longer seems possible because the trauma his brain experienced makes researching and writing difficult.

Born in California, his parents moved him to the Bronx in New York. He would live there until just after September 11th, when his mother moved to Richmond, VA. While going with his friend to the recruiting office, Christian found himself signing up too. And after nine years, he left. And a few months later, it would be a skateboarding accident that would take him down.

But in a sense it freed him too. This past February, after moving back to California to live and rehabilitate with a brother who was a physical therapist, Christian took up drawing. Using the right side of his brian for the creative good. He was happy to show me his portfolio, and to have the conversation. He says he likes to talk and, like me, learn people’s stories.

After narrowly escaping death, Christian has learned to embrace life, and all the joys in it. Like meeting other people. The accident had also kept him spiritually grounded. Having grew up in a Jehovah Witness family Christian seems to relate more with Buddha than anything else. He told me he likes to study all religions. But today it’s people, art and life.

I think Christ would agree, and would enjoy spending the time I got to spent with someone who bears his name.
0 Comments



Leave a Reply.

    Ian Macdonald

    An ex-copywriter turned punk rock pastor and peacemaker who dedicates his life to making the world a better place for all humanity. 

    "that they all might be one"  ~John 17:21


    “Prius vita quam doctrina.”
    ​~ S
    t. Thomas Aquinas (1225–1274)​
    * “Life is more important than doctrine.”


    Archives

    January 2023
    December 2022
    November 2022
    October 2022
    September 2022
    August 2022
    July 2022
    June 2022
    May 2022
    April 2022
    March 2022
    February 2022
    January 2022
    December 2021
    November 2021
    October 2021
    September 2021
    August 2021
    July 2021
    June 2021
    May 2021
    April 2021
    March 2021
    February 2021
    January 2021
    December 2020
    November 2020
    October 2020
    September 2020
    August 2020
    July 2020
    June 2020
    May 2020
    April 2020
    March 2020
    February 2020
    January 2020
    December 2019
    November 2019
    October 2019
    September 2019
    August 2019
    July 2019
    June 2019
    May 2019
    April 2019
    March 2019
    February 2019
    January 2019
    December 2018
    November 2018
    October 2018
    September 2018
    August 2018
    July 2018
    June 2018
    May 2018
    April 2018
    March 2018
    February 2018
    January 2018
    December 2017
    November 2017
    October 2017
    September 2017
    August 2017
    July 2017
    June 2017
    May 2017
    April 2017
    March 2017
    February 2017
    January 2017
    December 2016
    November 2016
    October 2016
    September 2016
    August 2016
    July 2016
    June 2016
    May 2016
    April 2016
    March 2016
    February 2016
    January 2016
    December 2015
    November 2015
    October 2015
    September 2015
    August 2015
    July 2015
    June 2015
    May 2015
    April 2015
    March 2015
    February 2015
    January 2015
    December 2014
    November 2014
    October 2014
    September 2014
    August 2014
    July 2014
    March 2014
    February 2014
    December 2013
    November 2013
    September 2013
    August 2013
    June 2013
    May 2013
    April 2013
    March 2013
    February 2013
    January 2013
    December 2012
    October 2012
    September 2012
    July 2012
    June 2012
    May 2012
    April 2012
    March 2012
    February 2012
    January 2012
    December 2011
    October 2011
    September 2011
    July 2011
    June 2011
    February 2011
    December 2010
    September 2010
    August 2010
    July 2010

Be Kind

About this blog

About The Author

Contact

Copyright © 2011