Thoughts from Mark "Hat" Rackley

There will always be poor people in the land. Therefore I command you to be openhanded toward your fellow Israelites who are poor and needy in your land.

• Deuteronomy 15:11

When they had finished eating, Jesus said to Simon Peter, “Simon son of John, do you love me more than these?”
“Yes, Lord,” he said, “you know that I love you.”
Jesus said, “Feed my lambs.”
Again Jesus said, “Simon son of John, do you love me?”
He answered, “Yes, Lord, you know that I love you.”
Jesus said, “Take care of my sheep.”
The third time he said to him, “Simon son of John, do you love me?”
Peter was hurt because Jesus asked him the third time, “Do you love me?” He said, “Lord, you know all things; you know that I love you.”
Jesus said, “Feed my sheep. Very truly I tell you, when you were younger you dressed yourself and went where you wanted; but when you are old you will stretch out your hands, and someone else will dress you and lead you where you do not want to go.” Jesus said this to indicate the kind of death by which Peter would glorify God. Then he said to him, “Follow me!”

• John 21:15-19

All the believers were one in heart and mind. No one claimed that any of their possessions was their own, but they shared everything they had. With great power the apostles continued to testify to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus. And God’s grace was so powerfully at work in them all that there were no needy persons among them. For from time to time those who owned land or houses sold them, brought the money from the sales and put it at the apostles’ feet, and it was distributed to anyone who had need.

• Acts 4:32-35

“Then he will say to those on his left, ‘Depart from me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels. For I was hungry and you gave me nothing to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me nothing to drink, I was a stranger and you did not invite me in, I needed clothes and you did not clothe me, I was sick and in prison and you did not look after me.’
“They also will answer, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or needing clothes or sick or in prison, and did not help you?’
“He will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did not do for one of the least of these, you did not do for me.’
“Then they will go away to eternal punishment, but the righteous to eternal life.”

• Matthew 25:41-46

Boilerplate

I’m Harold Dykstra.  I’m retired, but I go to food bank distributions all over Tracy and talk to people that need someone who will listen to their story.  My time is well spent.  A police lieutenant suggested that I write down the conversations that I had with an angel.  I did not know she was an angel at the time.  The angel, for a little over a year, indwelled a life-sized posable action figure my children bought me, so that I would not be perceived as travelling alone.  And in a way, she was training me for what I do while talking to the needy.  She probed my heart to find out what I believed and how I express love for others.  She changed my life.

In her leaving, she said someone would come.  I had thought that was Jesus, in His second coming, but a new Babs, a little older, the model for the posable action figure arrived.  While I had no desire to start over, Morrie helped her move in, thinking she was the other Babs who had returned.

This Week’s Question

Last week Barbara Bounty asked questions about confession and repentance.  She was settling in and starting to feel at home, but her past sins still haunted her.

This week, I was taking the day off from giving a Bible study.  Someone that I had met about a year ago was inviting me to a neighbor’s house for a dinner party.  He said he would provide a short Bible study.  I asked if I could bring the lady who was renting my upstairs rooms.  I suggested that he might recognize her.

I had the GPS programmed for the address that I was given.

Babs was in a nice dress.  We were told this was casual, so she wore gingham, in a modest style.  I think she shopped online and gravitated to styles that were old enough to be worn by her grandmother.  We had talked about it.  She never knew her grandparents, but there was a woman next door who seemed to live at the church, and Babs always loved visiting her when she saw the light on.  The grandmotherly woman next door baked the best cookies.  It was the closest thing she had to a Christian home, but if the lady talked about Jesus, she could not remember.

Babs was all giggles and smiles, “We are travelling to a strange part of town, and I get to be your travel buddy.  This is great!”

I said, “The GPS is guiding us to a specific house.  The guy who invited me is from the next cul-de-sac, but these people are friends, and they have a kitchen that has been featured on a cooking show.  It is large enough for the crowd that he invited.  He said that I might recognize only a couple of people.”

Babs gushed, “So, even you are going into the unknown.  This is so exciting!”  I think she was taking this as being her date with me – one of her items on her Christmas wish list, a romance like normal people have.

We pulled into the cul-de-sac.  Other than a pink bus and a small plug-in hybrid parked in the driveway, it seemed we had arrived before the crowd.  But oddly, as we parked, a limo pulled up and a couple got out and the limo drove away.  As we walked up to the front door, they introduced themselves as Cassie and Boaz.  Somehow, they looked vaguely familiar.

A very pregnant woman opened the door and welcomed us in.  She had two little girls who were near the same age, about two, running around her and laughing.

“I’m Pauline Niblick.”

One of the little girls said, “Docker Nibbie!”

“Yes, yes, Ibie, I have a doctorate, but these are friends.  We can be less formal today.”  Pauline turned back to us.  “Ibie, short for Scarlett Ibis Yeggs, is staying with us while her ornithologist mother and police detective father are in the Everglades, tracking bird migration as the sea levels slowly rise.  So far, the birds are doing just fine.  They find similar habitat and keep going.  The other little one is ours, Baffy, short for Baffing Spoon Niblick.  My husband’s the greenskeeper at the Hoity Toity club.  And Cassie, no baby bump yet?”

Cassie turned a little red, “No, the mayor and I are probably going to wait another six months before we start trying.  We have the political considerations to make.  Besides, we are still getting to know each other.  We’ve only been married a year.”

Now I knew where I had seen them.  I wondered if Babs and I should make a quick exit.  This was not your normal holiday dinner party with the mayor in attendance.  As we reached the kitchen and dining room area, large enough to be a stage in an auditorium, a lady in bright pink hair threw her arms around the mayor and called him ‘son.’  Hmm.  Are we out of place because this is the upper crust?  Or are we out of place because this is a family gathering?  Both?  I looked for the nearest exit.  Babs was loving the anonymity of the moment, but if anyone recognized her, we would have a problem.  This looked like nice folk that would not invite a porn star to dinner.  Even if she had been retired for ten years, and recently becoming a Christian.

Pauline introduced us to a few people.  As usual for me, the names went in one ear and out the other.  Babs smiled and started conversations with them all as if they were long lost friends, learning later that she had their names, birthdays, children’s names, and children’s birthdays all memorized.  I was perplexed in that I had no idea that information had come up in the conversation.

When we sat down at the table, the largest table that I had ever seen, Babs sat next to the mayor, and I sat next to a pretty young lady, who said that she and her husband were Joseph and Mary.  At least she did not say, Joseph and the virgin Mary and their child was in the nursery.  It is odd that I thought of that, but I was starting to feel a bit like I had fallen down a rabbit hole into Wonderland.

Lt. Deviled Yeggs arose from one end of the table and tapped his glass with a fork a few times.

The lieutenant said, “I am glad everyone could be here.  Not everyone is at the table.  We have children at the kitchen table, and the Evidents are babysitting.  They are welcome here, but there just is not enough room.  Besides, Jochebed being the nursery supervisor at Lily the Pink seems more comfortable with the children.”

A black woman arose from the “kiddie table.”  She said, in a dignified voice with a thick French accent, “I will inform you, lieutenant, that you may be my husband’s supervisor, and I may be your sister-in-law’s employee, but Georges and I were once African royalty.”

A man, who I later learned was Jacob Levy, cleared his throat, “And might I remind you, Jochebed, that you just pretended to be African royalty and even that is classified Top Secret.  No loose lips here.”  There was a scattering of confused looks and laughter around the table.  Not everyone knew the back story for that one, and probably never would know.

The lieutenant said, “I think we need some introductions.  At the African royalty table on the kitchen side of the room, we have enough children to choke an elephant.  Gwen and GrandPa’s children: Valin, Asha, Thahn, and Catalina.  Pink and Scrambled’s children: Kanok, Joon, and Pink Sparkle.  Excuse me, Kanok, Spa-Cool.  Glyce, I mean, Naomi and my little one, Gloria Grace, aka Gigi.  And Jemima and Easter’s little daughter, Stormie.  We also have the Wednesday days of the week: Thursday, Friday, Saturday, and Holiday.  And last but not least, the daughter of our host, Baffing Spoon ‘Baffy’ Niblick, and her best friend and house guest for the next six weeks, Scarlett Ibis ‘Ibie’ Yeggs.  Otherwise Poached and Callie would be here.  They are in the Everglades by now.”

The lady in pink hair said, “Latest message was that they had left the keys and were on their way to the test mangrove today.  They were hoping to stay in the keys for a few days, but the professor at the mangrove was not feeling well.”

He continued, “Thanks, Pink.  Now, at this table, I am lieutenant Deviled Yeggs of Homicide.  Next to me is my wife, Naomi Yeggs.  Next, we have GrandPa, Millennium Yeggs and his bride, Gwen Quinn, retaining her maiden name for security reasons.  Then we have Scrambled Yeggs, my older brother, and his wife, Pink Lady Apple Yeggs.  Next to Pink Lady is her aunt, Honeycrisp Apple, who says that Ambrosia gives her apologies, but she could not make it.  Then we have Dorothy Cahn, head of the mission downtown, aka Dot Com.  Then we have Ralph E. Newton and his wife Amy, aka Amy G. Dala, of Dala Enterprises.  Next, we have a retired financial advisor and his wife, Jacob and Dinah Levy.  Jacob avoids work whenever possible, but Dinah is the activities manager at the Hoity Toity club.  Then at the far end of the table are our hosts, Pauline and Mashie Niblick.  Pauline is a professor in my wife’s department at T.R.U.S.T.  Mashie is the greenskeeper at the Hoity Toity club.  And this is their home.  Don’t upset Pauline.  She could deliver her next baby any day now.  Then we have our young people section, our son Blaise, our daughter Sophia, our son Easter and his wife Jemima, Reverend Joseph Jones, once he gets a few more credits, and his wife Mary.  Then we have Harold Dykstra, a retired engineer.  Next to him, we have his guest, who is renting part of Harold’s home, Barbara Bounty.”

Jacob Levy asked, “Bounty?  Did you say Bounty?  May I ask where you are from, my dear?”

Babs said, “I moved here from Arizona, but I think you mean where I grew up.  My parents had a small business in the center of Illinois, in the middle of nowhere.  My mother died soon after I was born.  Otherwise, I doubt if you would know me or where I am from.”  Babs maintained a smile even when Jacob and Mashie whispered to each other excitedly, and GrandPa gave them a thumbs up from the other end of the long table.  Something was going on, but I got the feeling that these three men would never divulge what they were thinking.

The lieutenant then said, “And next to Barbara, we have our mayor, Boaz Yeggs and his wife Cassie.  Then we have my former partner, Jim Wednesday and his wife, Undersheriff of Stout County, Tuesday Wednesday.  She is not in uniform because it doesn’t fit.”

Tuesday groaned, “I am pregnant, nothing more than that, but Dev is teasing me that the baby bump, which is almost unnoticeable, prevents me from wearing the uniform.  But we are hoping and praying that by early June, we will add another day of the week to our brood.  I had a miscarriage last Spring, so I am taking it easy this time.”

Pink asked, “Tuesday, I have been wondering.  When the kids are getting unruly, do you just yell ‘day’ and they quiet down?”

Tuesday moaned, “Pink, I have tried that and all four of them ignored me.  Okay, sometimes Saturday comes over to ask if I am okay.  She is my sensitive one.”

Dev cleared his throat, “And in the kitchen, we have Thomas and Catherine ver Waarloosd and Darrell and Sally Mae Driver.  They are cooking a combination of dishes from various cultures.  And when we are done, I am assured that the kitchen will be as spotless as possible, like new.  Mary Jo Lynn, a friend of the Drivers is here to clean up afterwards, and during.  Did I miss anyone?”

“Yes!” Jochebed said, “You missed Fannie Packer, aka Grannie Fannie.”

Grannie Fannie said, “But I just drove the bus!”

Dev said, “Then I made a terrible mistake in not honoring you or half these people would not be attending.”

Easter said, “Hey, I’m a good driver.”

His Dad replied, “If you consider driving the bus over here on two wheels good driving.”

Easter replied, “Hey, Dad, I only do that when I have to!”

I thought to myself.  ‘Forget fantasy.  Forget hobnobbing with the rich folk, although a couple of ladies were millionaires.  Forget a family gathering.  This sounded like I was visiting the loony bin.  And some of these folks are connected to the mob!’

Then, Dev asked Joseph to open us in prayer and bless the food while he was at it.

Dev started his Bible study by reading a passage from John 21.  “Notice that the Scripture says twice to feed His sheep, and once to care for them.  We need to teach people, give them spiritual food, but giving them actual physical food is important.  Note that in Acts, the people shared so that no one had need.  I was sitting next to my sister by marriage, Pink Lady, at the annual lighting of the Crystal Mountain.  If anyone missed it, I am sure it is on the Storm Chasing Channel’s video page on their website.  With what Blaise added, with the pyrotechnics, it was a big hit.  But while all that excitement was going on, Pink asked me what I thought of when I saw a homeless person.  I said that I evaluated them to see if they were a threat.  I’m a cop.  It is my job to be aware of that, but it hurt to my core to be confronted with that knowledge.  I prayed about that, and I got the fire and police auxiliary involved.  Then we got other volunteers and donations.  A special thanks to the Newtons, although I think the check said Dala Enterprises.  Pink also contributed.  I got a lot of the volunteers through Dot Com.  Thank you also.  But we had a great pancake breakfast, but when little miss television reporter over there, Mary Sheltie Jones, started pumping me with questions, I said I would like to do this thing twice a month and then build to every week.”

Everyone around the table looked at each other with a combination of looks on their faces.  The expressions went from total agreement to fear that they would be asked to do a lot of work or give a lot to dismay that this was going to be a major endeavor that might end up having a few full-time people working for the charity.

Dev continued, “As I see each of your faces, I see a variety of expressions.  Some of you are here because you are family.  Some of you are here because you helped with the first breakfast that we had on Christmas Morning.  But we cannot let this sit without follow-up or these people will think that it was a one-time thing and the police and fire departments of Tracy cannot be trusted.  Think of Matthew 25 and the parable of the sheep and the goats.  Jesus ends the parable with the true sign that we are His disciple.  We get out there and work to help the needy.  Throughout the Bible, it says God loves the needy.  God loves the poor.  God loves widows and orphans.  Well, God loves everyone.  Even while we were sinners, God loves us, but He wants to help us out of the ruts that we find ourselves in.  He wants to clean us up so that we can be presentable.  And sometimes, he uses people like the ones in this room to help clean up some of the others.”

Sophie asked, “If I help clean up Blaise, can I accidentally drown him?”

Blaise yelled, “Hey!”  I yelled, “No!”  Sophie responded, “Rats!”  Naomi (Glyce) simply shook her head.  Gigi yelled, from the African Royalty Table, “Soapy naked!”  Naomi buried her face in her hands, while many around the table tried not to laugh, without success.

Mashie asked, “What do you want us to do?”

I shrugged, “I have no idea, Mashie.  Until we get an income stream that is worthy of paying people to do the job fulltime, this is going to be volunteer work.  There are a few retirees in the room.  Put them together and we might have one full-time employee.  And, Harold, you are kind of the odd person out here.  I wanted to invite you for totally other reasons, but this became my focus for the past few weeks.  Everyone, Harold Dykstra was accused of murder a little over a year ago.  It seemed that one Barbara ‘Babs’ Bounty had gone into his house and never came out.  Poached tracked her down and found her in Arizona in an assisted living home.  We can all attest to the fact that Babs Bounty is alive.  She is sitting between Harold and Boaz.  But in getting to know Harold during the investigation, and keeping up with you afterward, I know that you love God.  You love your neighbor.  You go to every food bank in the big city of Tracy.  You know how to connect with people who are in some kind of pain.  That seems to be your special gift from the Holy Spirit.  You are a retired salesman, and you worked as a project manager prior to going into sales.  I wanted to have you over for dinner, just to make sure everything was fine.  But now, I see to my surprise that Babs has returned.  Knowing you, you have established boundaries in the house so that there is no impropriety.  I am happy for both of you.  I look forward to talking to Babs later on.  But I want you to pray about it, Harold.  You can apply your project management skills.”

I said, “I don’t have the software to do that properly.  I could make a lot of mistakes by doing at by hand.”

Pink laughed, “My daughter by marriage is taking project management at the university.  If her license for the software is not transferable to multiple devices, I will buy the license.”

Amy said, “Not to rain on your parade, Pink, but we have licenses for probably the same software in case we hire more people.  I can transfer a license to Harold.  And I am sure Ralphie can fix him up with a nicer computer, free of charge, but I sense that Harold is still not convinced.”

I hesitated, “I go to every food bank, but I sit there and talk to people.  I do not know which food bank has extra flour and which has extra eggs.”

Dev said, “I have not asked you to be the guy.  I have not asked you to be one of the guys.  But you know the food bank managers all over the city on a first name basis.  You have the heart for these people.  But if you joined an advisory board, we might put you in charge of sales.  You know, how do we find donors.  We have two philanthropists at the table, Pink and Amy.  Honeycrisp knows the orchardists, and she might know farmers and ranchers.  A few others have more than enough cash, but we will need even more to hire a full-time employee, and this will take more than one full-time employee.  At first, if the menu is simple, the firemen can fix chili and stew while the policemen can flip burgers and fix breakfast, but I would like some good, well-balanced meals.  Since we are officially in the winter months, the fire chief suggested pitting all the firehouses in a firehouse chili tournament.  The winner gets a trophy and the homeless get food that will warm them up.  Just thinking of that, the food before us was fixed by two young couples and it is fabulous food.  In all your travels, Harold, have you ever bumped into a rich company owner?”

I sighed, “I have met a lot of company owners, but I doubt if many would volunteer to donate.  If they did, they would donate locally.”

Babs said, “What about John?”

It took a few seconds to make the connection, “Him?”

Babs shook my arm, “Yes, Harold, you were introduced to him for a purpose.”

Amy asked, “John who?”

I waved a hand, “He writes me an e-mail once a month to see how I am doing.  The guy’s name is John Downing.”

Amy looked at Pink and said, “He could buy and sell us two or three times over.”

Pink shrugged, “Maybe more.”

I sighed, “I knew he was rich, but I didn’t know how rich.  And he has not been a Christian for very long.  He has asked me if I knew a charity that he could put his stamp on.  All I can do is e-mail him to find out.”

Dot Com said, “I would want the charity to be related in name to the fire and police departments.  I am halting further apartment development in the warehouse across the street.  We might house the charity in that building, food storage and a huge industrial kitchen.  If Mr. Downing wants his name on the building, it will still be “the mission” but if he wants his name, he’ll need to buy a big kitchen and make annual donations.”

Pink said, “If this is the guy I have heard of, he could buy a few blocks of warehouses.”

Babs was getting excited, “Yes, Harold, you can do this!”

I nodded, “I will talk to John Downing.  Babs and I will pray about everything else, but didn’t Jesus say that we would always have the poor?”

Dev replied, “Yes, He did, and He continued that thought of the disciples not having Him much longer.  That meant He was about to die on the cross and after rising from the dead, He ascended into heaven some time later, forty days.  But Jesus was quoting Deuteronomy 15:11, and that verse continues the thought that the people of Israel needed to establish ways to feed the poor.  They were required to leave the outer edges of their fields so that the poor could glean.  That is where Boaz first met Ruth.  The Boaz from the Bible, not our mayor.”

Cassie sighed, “That’s a relief.  I thought I was his one and only.”

Boaz said, “And you are my one and only, Cassie.  And, Dev, you will have the necessary permits for open flames if needed, right to assembly every time, whatever comes up.  I will have someone in my office fill out the forms, so we just change the date and sign the paperwork again.

Later, Dev talked to Babs and me.  “I know you are a different Babs.  Jim does also, but your secret is safe with us and Poached when he returns.  Sadly, to figure out what was going on, Poached has seen some of your old videos.  Your secret will not be leaked by us, but someone will eventually recognize you.  Be prepared.  But Babs, you have been in front of the camera.  You have a wonderful voice.  If we can ever think of a name to call this charity and get a website going, you might do voice over advertising for us.  Mary and Jemima are pretty good, and those who watch the Storm Chasing Channel know their voices.  But you have a different voice quality.  Think about it.  Pray about it.”

On the way home, Babs was so excited.  She wanted to jump in the deep end without knowing how to swim.  But knowing God, if she did that, God would see her back to the edge of the pool.  Our minds were pretty well made up to do all we could.

But what did Jacob, Mashie, and GrandPa see when they looked at Babs?  Hmmm.  They probably recognized her as a porn star and were too polite to say anything.  But then again, I was convinced that the young Babs meant Jesus’ return when she said someone was coming.  Maybe some day I can ask one of them how they recognized Babs.

Credits

All these conversations remind me of my conversations with my wife.  We would talk about anything and everything.  And most of the time, it sounded like a discussion in a Sunday school class.

Babs being able to remember names and birthdays when they barely came up in a conversation was a copy of my wife’s special gift.  And I would still swear that my wife did 90 percent of the talking and birthdays never came up in the conversation.

My wife’s passion was to feed people.  We gave money to charities that fed people and when it was our turn to feed the homeless, we did not buy a pizza or a bucket of chicken.  She fixed an elaborate well-balanced meal, with enough for leftovers.  And then while we ate with them, she learned all their stories.

This charity is patterned after the Bridge Ministry in Nashville, TN (bridgeministry.org).

Soli Deo Gloria.  Only to God be the Glory.