The Burger Blessing

Jul 6

I moved out of Isla Vista. My car was packed to the brim with relics of my 4 years in community by the sea: a wetsuit with tar on it, paintings of the ocean, a tea kettle who made hundreds of cups of tea shared with housemates and friends, art projects inquiring home and hope, boxes of books, journals filled with prayers, Gaucho gear and stretched out swim suits, seashells, sand and stories lingering in the carpet of my 1979 Mercedes. All these things I don't know quite what to do with... Objects and things tied to a time and place in my life as I dance into a new season of life. Isla Vista is soaked with glory. It is no place for lukewarm personality or faith. It demands your body mind and spirit to be constantly seeking for the gold dust within the muck and grime of reality. The seagulls that pick at trash spilled on the sidewalk, the empty bottle mountains left on lawns and constant state of transition, Isla Vista is no ordinary place.

Community is key to thrive not just survive. These years have taught me find the humans that are going the same direction you want to go and do life with them... Cry with them. Laugh with them. Serve burgers on friday nights with them. Be in the world but not of it with them. Community is messy and imperfect, but it's the closest thing we've got to heaven. My last days in Isla Vista were spent at the Jesus Burgers house and hanging out with some of my favorite Isla Vistans. Not pictured are hundreds of other friends, teammates, teachers, mentors, neighbors, housemates (shout out to Unit Sea), adventure seekers, similar souls, artists and world changers that have helped make these 4 years so rich and plump with the fullness of life. Thank you.

Here's a poem written on the final night of Jesus Burgers this year.

The Burger Blessing

It all begins with worship
A fragrant aroma of your name
Upper room doesn’t leave you the same
We dance, you romance our souls
Get overflowed with your presence
To go out
You name we shout
Not with words or noisy babble
But with action
Blessings and burgers
Divine appointments of street corners marked with chalk
Herds of humans to who you talk
The bounty of blessings
The warmth of the fire
It is here you unleash our hearts desire
To see your kingdom come
The captives released
Pain and sorrow ceased
A speck of Gold falls of Del Playa pavement
Your cross was the payment
For sins found on these streets
But here in the darkness you greet us
Streets paved with gold
Stories left untold
A simple start,
Through burgers and blessings
Lord, you’ve changed our hearts