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WYD, Cologne; Part 2: Looking for THE moment.
Posted by: jesse on Monday, August 29, 2005 - 08:09 AM
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Jodi and I, Curtis, some of the spiritandsong crew, along with a kabillion other pilgrims making our way through the streets of Cologne, Leverkusen, Dusseldorf, and many other cities....as usual, I'm on the lookout for the defining moment of the pilgrimage. Was it exciting being in Germany? Yah mein herr. Was it exciting playing at WYD? Yes. Was it exciting to be among a kabillion people? Yes, as long as you didn't need to find a bathroom. Was it exciting to play at a 17,000 seat stadium? Yes. Exciting to eat the world's greatest sausages? Burp, yes and beg your pardon. Exciting to see the new Pope? That's a ten-four good buddy. Exciting to see John Paul II's legacy of the largest youth gathering in the world continue? Yeppers. It was all exciting, but it wasn't THE moment. As always, the good news arrives in a totally unexpected manner. A funny thing happened to us on the way to the Thursday catechetical session in Leverkusen. It was a cool brisk early morning as the dew settled on the hoods of the small european gas-conserving cars. The sun crept slowly over the horizon that we couldn't see because there were buildings in the way. What a beautiful holy day....
Then Jodi got robbed on the train. Don't worry, no guns blazing or knives kniving. After the Thursday catechetical session in Leverkusen, Curtis, Jodi and myself are the last persons boarding an already full train. As Jodi boards, she is immediately followed by three persons. Shuffling occurs, it seems innocent as folks are trying to squeeze into a place on the train. Jodi feels "bumped around" a little, feels a strange pressure on her purse, the the three persons that followed Jodi onto the train, all of a sudden, jump off the train just as the doors close. Jodi realizes that she's been robbed, says so out loud, and she, Curtis and I try to find an emergency brake lever with which to stop the train. Forced to wait until the next stop, we try to recollect ourselves and process what craziness just occured. The train finally reaches the next stop, we jump off, try to enlist the help of the station attendants, but to no avail. Jodi looks through her purse and realizes that they have taken all of our money, our ministry checkbook, family pictures, and...her PASSPORT! In this moment it is easy to let go of everything except Jodi's passport. Without that, Jodi will not be able to return to the United States with me on Sunday. Visions of standing in line at the American Embassy for hours, filling out forms, securing copies of faxed birth certificates and receipts from the purchase of the stolen passport....and this is Thursday! We've one shot on Friday to try and secure Jodi some temporary documents that will get her on the plane Sunday. Hoping against hope that we might find the passport in a garbage can or on the ground in Leverkusen, We catch the very next train back to the scene of the crime. My thoughts are to go the police station, make out a full report so as to have a written record for the American Embassy and the airport as surely, we'll need all the help we can get to convince them that Jodi has a very good reason for not having her passport. The feelings of Jodi being victimized and violated fill my heart and mind, as feelings of anger and revenge rise quickly. If one gets hurt, everyone gets hurt. Images of violence play out in my head. I have put Francis of Assisi away and invited the Terminator to update me on possible weapons of mass destruction I might employ on the "bad guys." I look at Jodi and shake the violent thoughts from my mind, as I realize Jodi needs a loving and encouraging husband, rather than Super Idiot Man and his Guns of Stupidity. Meanwhile, back on Earth, Jodi, Curtis, and a remnant of my brain, try to re-run the event in our minds, trying to make some sense of it, while at the same time, come up with a plan to see if we can recognize the thieves in the event that they're still at the scene of the crime; possibly preying on others. They are gone. Lord have mercy. I will have to do the catechetical session without Jodi the very next day, because she will be spending the whole day at the American Embassy--wherever that is...Oh Lord.
The thoughts of revenge still smolder in my mind, and I struggle to pray, to pray, to pray for Jodi...and for the ones who robbed her. It isn't a noble thing to pray. I have alterior motives. It is the only response that will bring the freedom that is needed for this moment. I hear Jodi murmur some "hope that they'll somehow be blessed." This woman is amazing. Super friend and brother, Curtis has gotten the attention and generous help of the station attendants. They call the local police, and the three of us head over to the station to fill out reports, look through some digital mug shots, give descriptions of the persons, give a description of what was stolen, answer lots of questions, answer them again, and then finally, answer them again, and then two more times. I keep praying for the thieves; to free me from my sadness, anger, and violent movie clips in my mind. Detective Jurgin, quietly types data onto the computer; asks more questions; types more data; the routine takes around three hours, although it feels like ten. We have been up since 5AM, in prep for the catechetical session, and with the stress and fatigue from the work, the session, and now, of the robbery, we feel the exhaustion with growing intensity. Blood streaks lines in our weary eyes....Curtis has about a quart and I, a quart and a half. You might say that our eyes are redder than a porcupine's pet marmot in winter. That's a saying that I just made up.
Knowing full well that the odds of recovering anything is closer to impossible than slim to none, we continue to pray for the persons who committed this crime. Jodi will be at the American Embassy for hours tomorrow. God give her strength. Mercifully, Detective Jurgin finishes the report process, gives us a copy, wishes us well as he gives us directions for walking back to the train station. Yes, walking; as in not getting a ride from the police; as in "my dogs are barking" and I'm going to fall down. We walk. We pray. After all, we are on a pilgrimage. And we pray some more. We are alive. We are together. God is good. God bless and help the thieves...(with a brick) whoops,that slipped out. We pray for our sin, and for those who have sinned against us. God bless and bring healing to the ones who stole....I pray for Jodi's heart. She seems to be only concerned for Curtis' and my sake, since we "must be exhausted enough from the catechetical session." Jodi is someone remarkable. After the twenty minute train ride back into Cologne, we exit the train into an ocean of humanity; pilgrims and residents of Cologne, packed tightly into the small space that once resembled a train station. Thousands of people walk up the stairs as one single line of people (us) attempt to walk down. Jodi lets two elderly people go before her in line, God bless them as the crowd forces them against the railing and wall of the stairwell. Jodi hears the elderly woman say the "S" word in German. Twice. Lord have mercy. I was saying the exact same thing in English, Spanish, Chamoru, Tagolog - - but in my quiet thinking voice located in the space where my brain used to be. Outside the station offers no relief. Thousands walk in to the station while thousands walk out. I begin to wonder if I'm hallucinating...what's that? Wall to wall people? And no, he's not going to light up a cigarette? No way! Dude. Way. I guess he figures that even though everyone is pressed physically in an involuntarily intimate way, he can light up because he's outside??? I am tempted to release a gute farte. (in German, that means, "good journey). I want to give him a good journey, but in the interest of peace and non-violence, I withhold. Ewwww. Blog overshare alert. Exhaustion growing, heart saddened, smoke-maddened, feet dying; we make it back to the hotel. We will freshen up and meet downstairs for another walk to the restaurant for dinner. Two days before, we had a lovely and relatively quiet dinner there. You know the place. Does "Thumbmaster" refresh the memory? As we approach the restaurant, there is a strange thunderous din coming from inside. Lo and behold, all the pilgrims that were at the train station are now in the restaurant. And would you look at that? Tall glass towers of beer on many of the tables to be tapped at the whim of the customers. All one need say is, "Beer Me!" Many of the folks at table have obviously been beered around twenty seven times. The volume of their singing, shouting, laughing and spouting, is deafening. Curtis, Jodi and I, still bleeding from the eyes, do our best to appreciate each other and our blessed meal. Wait, what's that? A young woman at the next table smiles at Curtis, and Curtis gives the death stare of Dargoogoo. The woman turns away. For Curtis, this is no ordinary day. And what's this?! That's interesting. The same table...someone has puts some rosary beads on the tap handle of the beer tower. I don't know if that's a move of ignorance and insensitivity, or a genuine act of prayer avoid the near occasion of drunkedness. I hope for the latter but suspect the former. Curtis and Jodi keep checking on me to make sure I'm still breathing. I try to reassure them I am fine, even if a bit disoriented. Vince
walks through the door in all of this, and so we share the magic moments together. We leave the restaurant and prayerfully limp back to the hotel. It around 10:30PM. As we walk by the front desk, the clerk announces to us that a "Detective Jurgen called to inform us that someone had found Jodi's passport and returned it to the police station in Leverkusen. THE moment...slipped gently and quietly in the midst of a loud, crazy, confusing, crowed, exhausting, angry, and frightening day. A stranger. A good and generous deed. A simple moment of thoughfulness and care. One moment in the day. THE moment.
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