On September 20th, a man named David Malloy was run over by a train here in Ventura. If you live around here, you probably either knew him as “JD”, or just another nameless and occasionally annoying homeless guy on the street, depending on how you’ve become accustomed to viewing people.
JD was a vital part of a community known as “the bridge” here in Ventura; a community that has recently experienced the loss of several people we care about a lot. Each of these people has left a differently shaped hole in our lives, and JD is no exception. Since learning of his passing Sunday morning, there have been several disorganized thoughts in my head that I felt like putting out here for all to share. If any of these offend you, please excuse me.
- For me, JD was a frequent reminder of the centrality of the poor in the message of the gospel, in the midst of a culture that tries to marginalize them as much as possible
- I loved how he always kept coming back, and he didn’t let the fact that you may not have thought you had time to listen to him at any given moment dissuade him from relating a long story to you that usually didn’t make much sense. The funny thing is that when you actually did listen and decipher what he was saying, it was pretty funny stuff sometimes, especially his accounts of “guarding the turf” around the b building.
- I will always remember leading worship during the Sunday gatherings and looking down and seeing him laying on the monitor, either trying to play along with his harmonica or just savoring the experience.
- His inability to overcome his addiction is a reminder to me of the position in which every one of us stands before God, constantly being forgiven. I remember some people relating to me their questions about why we would allow an intoxicated person to enter the gatherings, and I remember asking why we should allow anyone to enter, except for the grace of God that covers us all.
- I am again reminded of (and frustrated by) our city’s policy towards the homeless population. It goes beyond social stigma and the subliminal discriminatory attitudes of the general population, and involves the active decisions and stated goals of the city council and the police department to get them the f… out of town. It’s pretty sick when you think about a city that is as wealthy as Ventura being filled with pride to the point of looking at people in this situation and inhumanly labeling them as “the homeless problem”.
There is more to say, but that will have to do for now.
