Day 7: 9/29/09

A vigil in two parts:

I arrived alone for my first of two shifts at 7p. It was an odd feeling to be there while the sun was still "shining." Odd because the street and sidewalk traffic is very different at 7p than it is at 11p. To be honest, I was a bit more frightful during that time than I would be later that night. I fear the angry sane far more than the painfully drunk. The only company I had that hour were a couple of policemen checking in. The Sorrowful Mysteries and Divine Mercy were my companions.

My second 2 hour shift began at 10p to be joined by my friend Kyle. You will certainly appreciate his perspective of the evening's events. For the first 45 minutes or more "Dennis" kept us company. He is by far one of the most interesting characters I've encountered in my time downtown. He was a bundle of random thoughts and exclamations. Really, the coffee is just to keep us warm and awake. And despite his insistence I am not an assassin of liquor store patrons from Utah.


While he was there we prayed the rosary. Dennis was a Roman Catholic after all. He wanted to join in and did sporatically. He seemed to think that in between each decade there was suppose to be an intermission in which he could call for back up or grill us about our place of origin, the contents of our wallet, whether we seriously believed our prayer would make a difference.

This is a question I've gotten several times during the vigil. The fact is I do believe it will make a difference. I believe that God has the power to change hearts by giving them eyes to see truth. I know this because He has changed mine several times over despite my own failings and blindness.

Dennis left us with a prayer which touched my heart. As he bid us farewell I saw a deep appreciation in his eyes. Appreciation that we'd accepted him as he was. That we'd spent time with him and laughed with him. That we showed him respect and treated him with the dignity he deserved.

The evening went on without him. Through Evening Prayer, a litany to the Sacred Heart and Night Prayer we continued to pray that those in the womb would be found worthy of that same dignity by their mothers. I drove off just after midnight glancing at the thermometer in the van. It displayed a brisk 37 degrees. With a shiver, I said a little prayer for Kyle who had two long hours to go. God Bless him.