Author: Joan Rivard

  • Blessed Are the Peacemakers

    God’s Message to Treehuggers and Peacemakers: Blessed Are the Peacemakers:           for they shall be called the children of God. (Matthew 5:9) Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst         after righteousness, for they shall be filled. (Matthew 5:6) Thou art not far from the kingdom of God. (Mark 12:34)           Whatsoever ye have…

  • God’s Eyes

              I first noticed them at the next bench over from the drummers’ bench, a separate group of homeless youth who often congregated there.  They wore different clothes than the rest of the people.  Their clothes were darker and somewhat dusty, but serviceable for survival.  Next to the bench was a large carpenter’s cart loaded…

  • THE HAIGHT

    You can tell it’s not an ordinary place.  The ornate Victorian row houses in the neighborhoods around the Haight are incredibly beautiful, like jewelry boxes or elaborate cakes in pastel colors.  Their curved balconies with rounded windows, their rich decorations of gold medallions and intricate carved edgings, are works of art.  They have towers and…

  • BUSLOADS OF TOURISTS

            The hippies have been chased away from sitting on the front steps of the McDonald’s that’s on the corner of Haight Street and Stanyan in San Francisco in the hippie capital of the world.  It’s too bad because their gathering there was a major tourist attraction, giving people a taste of what they were looking…

  • BLESSED ARE THE PEACEMAKERS

    God’s Message to Treehuggers and Peacemakers: BLESSED ARE THE PEACEMAKERS   BLESSED ARE THE PEACEMAKERS: for they shall be called the children of God. (Matthew 5:9) BLESSED ARE THEY WHICH DO HUNGER AND THIRST         AFTER RIGHTEOUSNESS: FOR THEY SHALL BE FILLED. (Matthew 5:6) THOU ART NOT FAR FROM THE KINGDOM OF GOD. (Mark 12:34)…

  • The Clean Air of the Untouched

    THE CLEAN AIR OF THE UNTOUCHED To see the people at the Campground, those completely inexperienced new arrivals there in these snug little cabins they’d built themselves, was to realize that most people could do whatever they set their mind to.  Ordinary people were smart enough to build good shelters and adapt to extreme weather…

  • The Lilies of the Field

    THE LILIES OF THE FIELD People look at them sideways as they pass by along their way toward the drum circle.  These street kids are the dustiest, wildest-looking bunch on Sharon Meadow.  They look as if they’ve lived outside for years, and they have.  They share a rugged existence in the forests of Golden Gate…

  • God’s Eyes

    GOD’S EYES I first noticed them at the next bench over from the drummers’ bench, a separate group of homeless youth who often congregated there.  They wore different clothes than the rest of the people.  Their clothes were darker and somewhat dusty, but serviceable for survival.  Next to the bench was a large carpenter’s cart…

  • The Haight

    THE HAIGHT You can tell it’s not an ordinary place.  The ornate Victorian row houses in the neighborhoods around the Haight are incredibly beautiful, like jewelry boxes or elaborate cakes in pastel colors.  Their curved balconies with rounded windows, their rich decorations of gold medallions and intricate carved edgings, are works of art.  They have…

  • An Aura of Freedom

    An Aura of Freedom All I gave them was a panful of soggy burritos wrapped in foil, left over from a party the night before.  The love I got back seemed out of proportion to my small gift.  The big vegetarian burritos might’ve been thrown away to make room in a full fridge.  To get…