gilberto the monk

I love this guy. This is Gilberto - he's a monk with an order out of Bainbrige Island, Washington an spends a lot of time on the road; travelling to peace actions and the like. He's one of those people who loves people deeply and is so wonderfully accessible. He grew up in the projects and told me that he heard a radical priest speak back in the day and he knew he had found his calling to become a travelling monk. After a time and raising a family, that's what he's become.
When we are walking he's the guy that is constantly running across the street or into people's yards to talk to folks - I've never seen anybody feel uncomfortable or wary in his presence.
I warmed to him immediately and he's been a great source of comfort these past weeks. He's actually leaving today to attend a non-violence conference in Santa Barbara - we may see him again, we may not.
Like any good monk he speaks a good parable. Here's one of my favorites that he told me after I asked him what I can tell people who were having a tough time after a particularly nasty incident here in the camp:
"There once was a Rabbi of a small village - this is way back in the day - maybe 70 C.E. The Romans had burned down the Temple and all of the people were angry and deeply disturbed. They came to this man and asked him - what can we do, how can we get retribution?
The Rabbi simply answered, "We can be witnesses."