The Soup Kitchen Rag

As his friend, Henry David Thoreau, would likely say, "Yes. You're right, Waldo. But all you needed to say was, "Soups' ready."

Some thirty years working a Soup Kitchen will eventually shape-shift you in every conceivable way. Eventually, again, comes the understanding that everyone in the Line, is you. They are all you... Wild Bill with his quivering eyes and spittle-drenched beard is all you. The quiet Mexican woman pulling out her tit to feed her hungry kid: both are you. The police officer strolling in and getting a cup of coffee while eyeing everyone: he's also you. And the manic dealer pulling out his gun while asking "Can I come in with this?" he too is only you...

That "Mystical Body of Christ" Line is hungry... with a real hunger, not a philosophical or religious hunger... but human, animal like... and it all revolves around the thing deeper than the hospitality of fire, food, and the immense quiet of the universe: for what only amounts to a minute, you are alive... seemingly living within your solitary skin (sure, that's real enough, but still not nearly enough). So: here it is (perhaps enough truth to raise you from your coma): there is no one from whom you are separate: they are all you. Period. End of story myth belief or system.

Every "they" "them" or "that" is you. This is the mystic teaching known as The Soup Kitchen Rag.