People come and go from the Mustard Seed, and I've always assumed that they moved (to a warmer climate!) or no longer have the need for our services. It's been over a year since I've been there, and I finally have realized where some of those people may have gone: Jail. It honestly hadn't crossed my mind until last week.
One of the more "colourful" karaoke singers has been gone for a long time, since way before Christmas. Last I saw him he sang a Dylan-esque rendition of "It's My Life". Hilarious. I've thought about him over the past few months, but thought he had probably moved on. He showed up last week with John (another regular), and I naively asked, "I haven't seen you for a long time - have you been away?" John replied for him, "Yah, he's been away at the Remand."
I then thought of so many others I haven't seen in a while. Clayton, the mohawked singer of Nirvana and STP - he came in every week since I started, and then all of the sudden was gone. My crazy haired friend, who when I last saw him, said he had been "in hiding". I thought maybe he was hiding from some "bad people", and maybe he was, but he may have also been in hiding from the police, for I haven't seen him since.
Today one of the regulars returned after a month or two of being gone, greeted by hugs and squeals and cries of, "You're out!"
Why didn't I see it before? I guess I never thought that jail was a reality for a lot of the people who seem fairly normal when they walk through our doors. I wonder, if I visited the Remand Centre, how many I would recognize?
But on a positive note, Sheldon came by for a visit, seems to be enjoying his new place, and is off to Saskatchewan tomorrow to visit his brother. He seemed happy. God is taking care of him.
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