F a t h e r L u k e ’s dot Blawg

A friend once said he gave up drinking by throwing in the towel one thread at a time. Anyone who has ever had to do something new may now smile.

By nature I am a private person. I become even more solitary during the start of the winter season.

 
http://FatherLuke.com/christmas-2005

http://FatherLuke.com/holiday-wishes

 
Simply put, I no longer publicly do December. Forty seven years it has taken me, but I give up; I’m sorry, but after nearly half a decade I’ve given up, one thread at a time.

I shall see you sometime in January where I hope a renewed sense of joy, and wonder may fill our lives.

Until then…
- -
Love,
Father Luke

As I approach my final days in Fresno I want to look back, and say
that I won’t miss the place.

I’ve been here for nearly a year now, from January to late
November, and I shall be leaving in early December.

As I am one who enjoys the pleasures of reclusive anonymity, I have
disappeared nicely among the useless, and desolate of the city’s
homeless. I am not special among those with little hope. I am not
anyone at all, I am just the next in line.

Being homeless, I saw the rain only once this year. It was a light
rain; the weather has been most kind to me.

Approaching that time of year set aside for giving thanks, I’ll soon
pause for a moment, and reflect upon those things I am grateful for
which I may overlook, or miss as I walk the railroad yards, the dead-end alleys, or scuffle up the street to grab a meal at the
homeless shelter.

Will I miss Fresno? It has been where I have painted a life this year. The painting is finished; the year is nearly over.

That’s all.

- -
Okay,
Father Luke

On November 7th, 2006, sometime in the evening:

1. I turned forty seven years old
2. I turned eighteen years sober
3. And I became a licensed Truck Driver

The best lie in the world is the truth, and there is nothing more dangerous than an honest man.

Tell me I’m full of shit, and dangerous.
I’ll be flattered. I promise.

- -
Okay,
Father Luke

Years ago, as I was watching the big kids talk about writing on usenet, I found a guy by the name of Dr. Zen, and I fell in love with his wit, charm, and wisdom from nearly the first word I read by him. I think it was something he’d written about a red-nosed cunt.

I remember watching him take pains to make some point, and then he’d be blasted by some fool wanting to be correct. The pains the Good Dr. took to patiently explain just exactly why the criticism was foolish begat yet another seige of idiot jibberish from someone unwilling, or unable to see, another point of view which offered a fresh, and unique solution.

Recently the Good Doctor offered a writing workshop which I participated in online. It’s still open to anyone interested in participating in the exercise. I suggest if you enjoy writing, that you participate, just as I would suggest you use a parachute if you’ll jump from an airplane.

As I have read Dr. Zen over the years, I have been richly rewarded with not only wisdom, and wit but also with a friend, and a fan. I feel humbled in the presence of anyone who reads me, but to find someone who found me, really rather on his own, and enjoys what I write I have no other words but to say thanks a million times. For what better gift may one offer to a writer than to read what that author has written?

Read Dr Zen. It’s a gift to him,
and a gift to you. 

Maybe what the Doctor tells me
isn’t altogether true
but I love every tale he tells me
I don’t know any better ones, do you?

My friend the Doctor says
the world is full of fantasy
and who are you and I to disagree?

-Lyrics: Leslie Bricusse from Doctor Dolittle, 1967

- -
Okay,
Father Luke