An Evening with a Saint

I began the day at 4:00 am on the west coast and I am ending it at five minutes to midnight in a college dorm room just outside Atlanta. It's been a wild ride that started with packing in Petaluma, moving to pack some more in San Francisco, catching a flight to Phoenix and then to Atlanta (in the middle seat of the last row) to be met by my friends from Ohio and taken to the house of a man whom I honestly consider to be as close as we get to an honest to God saint.

I met C.T. Vivian at a conference in Atlanta almost 20 years ago, but then I never saw him again until last fall, after The Thing, when he came to New Orleans to begin a plan to help rebuild the city, by helping to rebuild the churches. We went through hours of hard working meetings followed by dinner at the Redfish Grill, one of the few places in town that was open at the time, where we ate and talked and laughed for hours before finally pouring ourselves into bed. That night I was treated to one of the best evenings of my life; a truly "perfect moment" in the presence of someone whom I can only hold (both because of his history and because of his present) as the deepest saint I have ever met. A down to earth, rubber meets the road, this is where it gets real kind of guy who also happens to have walked the roads, sat in the jails, preached in the churches and stood in the streets with Martin Luther King Jr. C.T. also possesses the brightest smile, most charming manner, best told stories and greatest laugh of anyone I have ever known. Just being in his presence is to experience first hand an overflowing joy born from a life of struggle and hope.

He also happens to live in a veritable museum of art, literature and history of his (and his wife's) personal creation; he takes great delight in showing folks around and telling the stories behind every piece.

C.T. is the perfect example of how steadfast belief, solid faith, and true optimism accompanied by clear and intentional effort and action leads not only to progress and change in the world, but to a better life all around. I do not personally know anyone who has seen as much struggle, and has put in as much time on the hard realities of every day (from the basic struggles for equality in Mississippi in the 60s, or the long boring day to day labor to secure more justice and hope for people in post-Katrina New Orleans, or in the daily battle he faces each day at home in Atlanta).

C.T, Vivian is another one of my true heros and I cannot think of anything better than to have been given the gift of his presence (and that of his wife), and to share that gift with a few friends new and newer, at the end of this long day's journey into night.