the cancellation of distinctions

     My original intent of this blog posting was to share with you the challenge that I have chosen this week.  I was going to write about the hunger and starvation that so many face every day.  However, I was reading a book of poetry and I simply was swept away by its honest truth.  So, I would like to make a brief statement of my challenge for this week, saving the deeper discussion for after this challenge is completed.  This week I will be drinking only water, and eating one bowl of rice per day.  Through this challenge I hope to gain a better understanding of those who live without enough food to fill their bellies.  When I hear my stomach growl or feel the temptation of the food in my kitchen, I hope to remember those who suffer.   

     Bud Osborn is a street-poet who lives in Vancouver, British Columbia.  He has experienced abuse, addiction, poverty and depression throughout his life.  He now chooses to live amongst those people who became his family while he faced many struggles.   But he also chooses to share with others, the raw hope that can be found in those who live on the streets.  The beauty of Bud Osborn’s poetry is that it not only touches the heart, but it also makes you frustrated, angry, hurt, enraged.  It allows you to feel the pain of others so that we, who live in a world where un-feeling is celebrated, can learn how to be weak again. 

     The poem that struck me today was one about a woman dancing in the streets.  The length of the poem, discourages me from providing all of it in my blog, but I will provide pieces so that you might grasp the same hope that I discovered (however, I will post a link below for those who are interested).  This poem describes a woman who has been thrown out onto the streets like garbage by society.  However, amidst her pain she dances.  She dances with a cross in her hands, dismissing the judgement of those around, forgetting the societal norms that bind us from freedom.    Bud writes:

before my friend left he expressed

sentiments similar to those ssaid about

the one who died on the cross –

“why doesn’t somebody clean up this alley?”

my friend has only to wait a short time

for the powers are aligning to do so

the same powers driving jesus away

because here is a cross

that cancels distincition

between she who dances in an alley

and the daughters of power on robson street

who buy thin gold crosses

to hand around flawless necks

and unmarked skin

     This is only a small piece of the poem; however, its vulnerable truth needed to be heard.  I understand that many people may not believe in Jesus or God.  I understand that people come from different faiths, and different backgrounds.  However, I do not believe that this poem is restricted to those who have faith in God; rather, it is quite the opposite.  This poem simply desires to strip away the labels that we, as humans, have fought so hard to create and maintain.  We try so hard to establish an identity that we can hold on to.  The poem writes about the cancellation of distinctions. This idea seems so simply but is actually very radical.  Each of us chooses to dress in a specific style, study a particular subject, and ultimately do life in a way that allows our “identity” to flourish.  But what if our “label” did not represent who we are? What if the way others perceive us did not matter? What if our distinctions were cancelled?

http://books.google.ca/books?id=7tyzZydfHeMC&lpg=PA79&ots=guQobQG6kq&dq=bud%20osborn%20-%20the%20passion%20of%20the%20downtown%20eastside&pg=PA62#v=onepage&q&f=false (this is the link for Bud Osborn's book which includes the full version of this poem found on page# 79)