Concert Reminder: The Turning Point...

[Pateticus]

The Spring Thaw is here, the hibernation is over and a new season is about to emerge. The Turning Point has begun. It is safe to say that from here, it is almost completely out of my hands--as everything I have is now in everything that I believe in. What this project turns into is now completely up to the community that supports it.

I have tried to impress upon people the idea that having a ministry in your neighborhood is like having an empty jar that everybody puts their 'extras' in...whether it's time, change, skill, space or energy...And everyone that puts into that jar can have access to anything that it contains. It becomes a clearinghouse for what would normally be going to waste, allowing the seemingly useless be more useful.

If everyone in a neighborhood puts in, everyone in that neighborhood benefits from it. And that is what creates the moral anchor for a community--a community based on sharing. What I want to say more than anything is that it was so, so easy to set this up, it is something that can do a world of good for a lot of people if just one person decides to do it.

The only reason I've had a hard time so far is out of having to juggle both keeping what I felt was useful about the life I used to live while carefully accumulating only exactly what I'd need to move on while at the same time ridding myself of everything that I needed to. It was a delicate line to find and walk, and it's taken me close to a year of fenagling, networking and compromising to reach something close to a balance of Materialism and Spirit so that I could finally be in a place to free myself of the binds of a systemized lifestyle.

And once this is managed for just one person, with others it will be easier.

Ever since opening the ministry bank account, I've shared all of the resources of that account with anyone that's donated to it. In the past year, the account has helped a single mom find a new apartment, it has helped move a family into another city to start a new life, and has found jobs for two new artists.

Because I have set this operation up for maximum flexibility, in the past year I have seen this ministry become everything from a farce to a soapbox to a quentin tarantino movie. I've had my life put on the line, I've seen squallor and hardship that would drive even the sanest person crazy. I've been pushed to my limits, had everything taken from me and I still haven't lost my mind because, in one way or another, I always seem to get exactly what I need exactly when I need it.

Taking a leap of faith works, you only have to believe in yourself enough to jump.

I am out to prove something: That I am more than my background check, I am more than my credit report. That just because the system says I'm useless doesn't mean that I am. Because so far, this ministry has been built on nothing but what everyone else decides to share. I'm just doing the legwork.

So far, the fruits of my labors are now shaping out to be a community school, merchant cooperative and artist colony. We also have plans to sponsor a soccer team, a little league team and maybe start an art car club.

All-in-all, I'd say I've done pretty well on less than a hundred dollars a month.

On April 20th, there will be a chance to see what this ministry becomes when it is open to the public for one night.

The last $80 that went into this account has rented use of the Concrete Jungle (now formerly the Padded Jungle, for those of you who have the old fliers...same location, different name). There are *Eight* bands hitting the stage for just a $5 cover.

Everything we make off the door that night, minus the $80 we give to the bar, goes into the nonprofit and will be enough to acquire a public space if enough people show up. It's that simple--in one night of partying we have the first month's rent. After that, it's up to self-governance. It becomes whatever people make it.

Once that public space is acquired, that space can become whatever it is we--as a group of donors--wish it to be. Whether it be a library, coffee shop, art gallery, museum, school or community center.

This isn't a march on wallstreet, it's not a camp out on capital hill. There will be no political statements or preaching. This is just a group of concerned citizens having good time while helping a bunch of hard working musicians and bartenders earn an honest living. And to hopefully raise donations towards something we believe in.

So please, come on out, hear some good music and drink some beer. Where we go from here is up to you.

Pateticus
http://members.cox.net/pateticus/
_________________
Here's to burning one down with god.
Don't forget to look behind you every once in awhile
and always exhale with a grin.


http://members.cox.net/pateticus/