I lived these stories. I was these stories.
And God was with me all along…..

Dressed as clown that day
(As I used to work as one!).
Praying in a wealthy neighborhood near the seminary
I was attending at the time
In Marin County.
Someone called the cops.
They came, put me in the car
My from still on.
I was going to speak that day
But they had to call up to the seminary
To prove I was a student there. They did
I got to get out of that car and go to seminary
Still in my makeup.

//
I wasn’t so lucky another time.
I was also praying when the cops came
Had my bible in my pocket and many pens
As always (just like Paris, when I talked that man off that bridge with my pens and a sketch pad)
But that night, they got me. Said I had citations out, took me to the Oakland jail, where I met a guy
Also named Derrick (with a different spelling)
I stayed the night with this huge Chinese christian tattooed man guarding my bed. He knew I didn’t belong there. I heard God say: “I’m letting you taste what others must eat”. I got out the next day, no explanation. I think they wrongly put me in for parking citations in San Francisco—which of course are impossible not to get in that city.
Anyway, they let me keep my bible, and I got a new empathy for those inside.

//
About Paris that time.
I saw a man on a bridge about to jump.
The Spirit told me to approach slowly
Sketch book in hand and make eye contact. I did.
And when I got close started sketching
I sketched a church steeple, a door
And a key I recall. The man saw it and started crying. He got off the bridge and we walked to the nearest church. The power of art to communicate, but I was also speaking in
“French tongues” the whole time. God was translating what needed to be said.

//
When I met Madonna, God told me exactly where to sit. We were at the Four Seasons in Austin, Texas. She was there for a film appearance.
I didn’t know who she was, until I did.
God told me to tell her she was cherished.
I waited until she invited me over to the table.
“You are Italian, I know it—what do you have to say to me?” Madonna said. “You are cherished”.She got it. It went in. Then she asked me to give “words” to the whole group.
That was a fun day.