"Serenity House"

"Serenity House"

Serenity House was the name we chose for the coffeehouse a couple of us decided to make available in Ottawa in the summer of "68." It had a short, one-summer lifespan. As I remember it, Horse and I were the primary owners with lots of help from "Big Dave" and Mud and some others as their political persuasions allowed (nicknames intentionally used to mask the identity of those involved except for those who knew us best by those names). There's no doubt in my mind we worked a lot harder getting the first floor of the old Gulker building presentable for business than we did the whole rest of the summer! (Let me clarify alittle. I was referenciung the work at the coffeehouse - I worked third shift at Sylvania also: first unloading the tubes from the ovens, then salvage)! The only reason we were ever able to open was because of Big Dave's construction knowledge and work ethic!

Several of our views about the world experienced some tweeking during our just completed first year in college. We thought differently about race relations and the Viet Nam war and the plight of the migrant worker and authority and religion and .... a lot of other stuff. Our primary intent for opening the coffeehouse was to provide a safe place for people to exchange ideas over the summer. The warm and soft light from candles sat on the card tables we had borrowed from our homes and picked up at garage sales. We were going for a sense of sereneness.

Well, while there was plenty of conversing, poetry reading, folk singing and political discussions that went on around the candles in the coffeehouse we observed that there wasn't always an atmosphere of serenity created as a result. We'd  been warned by our more seasoned friends at school and had been part of such scenes on and off campus ourselves. So, we weren't all that surprised or disappointed with what happened inside the Serenity House.

No, our real disappointment and pain was the result of the reaction outside the walls of the Gulker building. It was rumored that we had prostitutes on the second floor and the coffeehouse was just a front. The truth being we had only ventured up there once and refused to go up there again because of the amount of pigeon poop all over - think of Bill Cosby's comment to God by Noah for a picture of the reality: "Have you looked in the bottom of the ark, Lord? Seriously, who's going to clean that up?! Not me,  no siree!!"

It was also rumored that we sold drugs - I guess because I had longer hair than when I graduated and the popular image of what people associate with coffee houses. The only things we sold were snacks, coffee, and flavored teas. We've been teased over the years about our unique Lifesaver flavored teas!

Probably the thing that disturbed me the most though was that some guys who had returned from Nam were commenting on what they would do to me if they met me on the streets. One of them was engaged to one of my friends, a friend since the first grade. I wanted to meet with him. More than one friend suggested that I not pursue it - that it would only heighten the tension. My desire to meet with him was not to try and discuss our positions about war but to reassure him that my attitudes and ideas were based on political and religious beliefs and not a criticism of military personnell who risked their lives for the nation and for all of us. I wanted to make a case for being able to have differing points of view and to do so civilly. I wanted to make a friend, not an enemy; build bridges, not destroy them. Our paths never did cross that summer nor have they in the years since. 

It was a long, hot summer. I was supposed to gain 20 lbs. for football that summer. I drank a banana milkshake from Tony's every day! I also worked the ovens at Sylvania and worked out every day and got very little sleep, I returned to football practise at ONU two lbs. heavier! 

It  was not a wasted summer by any means though. I learned a lot about myself and other people. It was another one of those stepping stones that helped clarify my call to ordained ministry and shape some of the tenets that would guide me in that ministry. I'm not sure I could have vocalized it then, but it certainly influenced adjusting my way of dealing with my beliefs and those of others. At some point along the way thoose early years I decided that my role was not to convince people of the rightness of my way of thinking - religious, politics, or whatever - but, a desire to be more open to exploring with others their ideas, opinions, dreams, and hopes with the intent that they develop their own path through life. And yes, that meant some chose atheism (I have a real problem with fellow Christians who choose to make jokes about the serious-minded ones it's been my honor to count among my friends), some are racist, some are republicans, some are Steeler fans, some are conservative, some are liberal, some blame the poor for all the problems in our world and specifically our country, some blame the same on the rich, etc.

Have I been true to that principle 100% of the time? No, I'm as hypocritical at times as all of us. But, I don't want to be. In fact, I think I need to attempt to refriend someone on Facebook I defriended a few weeks ago!    

Bye! Oh, and it wasn't the most serene summer of my life!