Direction Home…

Longtimers at the Shelter all love Ray. He was a semi-invalid when I first met him. He quickly became an invalid. He was quite clearly in a lot of pain. I never saw the sweet and funny side, but I can confirm the curmudgeon. The family stressed that Ray was very spiritual, but very much at odds with organized religion. The Bishop from the Church of Latter Day Saints who ordained Ray a priest in the last year of his life, assured us that Ray quite literally was still with us even as the Book of Mormon assures us that Christ is still with us. I well understand the temptation to lapse into eschatological reverie, but I fear that it leads Fundamentalists – whether they be Islamists, Christianists, Marxists, or recycled Harvard Economists – into error.

Joe is tangible. He said he met Ray lighting an oil drum at a peace demonstration in 1991. He and Ray thought Bush I’s Iraq I was about oil. I believe them. And I believe Joe that fatherly advice from Ray has helped him survive in a ruthless world. Capitalism cannot be simply wished away.