Ode to Joy - A Spark of the Gods - For Marylena and Ken

Marylena and Ken

Ode to Joy

A Spark of the Gods -  for Marylena and Ken

I met Marylena at Whole Foods in 2009, the same year my son Max died.  Max visited a church in which she was a member and they had met. I wanted her to know about the car accident and how we lost him.  She stopped scanning my groceries at the cash register and held my hand across the counter with tears welling up in her eyes. She knew my son, had been kind to him, and I loved her for that.

The story of how I met Ken is more circuitous.  

In the fall of 2011, I sat straight up in bed at 3:30 a.m. with a strange thought.  I was to bring the entire Memphis Symphony Orchestra to the Union Mission, a local homeless shelter, to play a concert on January 3rd, the anniversary of Max's death. He had volunteered there and it would be a memorial concert fit for kings and queens.  They would play Copland, and Mozart, and the final movement of Beethoven's 9th Symphony, complete with a 60-voice choir.  The audience would be members of the Symphony Board, the city's elite political and business leaders, and the homeless.  The vision was at once absurd and awesome.

I tried to shake it from my mind but it persisted over the next few days. I finally picked up the phone and called the Symphony to ask if they had ever played a concert at the Mission.  There was a long pause and then a polite no. I told the Symphony CEO that I would hire them if he said yes to the audacious musical program I had dreamed up in the middle of the night. I knew he would balk at the Beethoven. The space requirements for full orchestra and chorus seemed implausible at the shelter. But after a site visit and careful planning, he said yes.

The concert at the Mission was glorious. Our hearts burst open and tears flowed freely as the singers belted out the chorus with intensity and the orchestra pounded Beethoven's final, exhilarating masterpiece. There is nothing in music like the work's noble "Ode to Joy" choral finale, with its impassioned plea for peace and universal brotherhood, to bring so many people together. The room was filled to capacity with over 400 homeless men and community leaders intermingled throughout. Between the musical works, two homeless men, along with two of Max's friends and my dear mother, volunteered to read Max's poems. One man was named Patrick.

Patrick and I bonded over the story of the loss of his 6-year-old daughter. His own life had spiraled out of control following her death in a haze of grief and guilt, fueled by addiction and crime.  Patrick was recovering at the Union Mission and needed a second chance. He needed a job. He was smart and humble and worthy of an opportunity despite his felony record.  I met with the pastor at the Mission and offered to help.  

One day while shopping at Whole Foods it occurred to me that Patrick could work there. The environment is focused on healthful living and the employees are cheerful and diverse. I asked to see the store manager and inquired about the possibility of hiring someone with felony convictions.  He hesitated at first, but finally told me to have Patrick complete an application at the computer kiosk in the front of the store.

I got into my car and drove straight to the Mission to find him.  When we arrived back at the store we found that the computer was off-line. I found the manager and told him about the computer and how I had driven all the way downtown to find Patrick and all the way back to the store so he could apply.  I begged him to meet Patrick on the spot.  He agreed and sat down to interview him while I waited.  Five interviews and several weeks later, Patrick had a job with a living wage, benefits, and profit-sharing.  

He was so successful that three more men were hired from the Mission. One was Ken.  

Over time, Patrick's old habits returned and he lost the job at Whole Foods. I spoke to the manager about the circumstances and left feeling very sad. But waiting for me in the aisle was Ken.  We had not formally met but he knew me. He thanked me profusely for getting Patrick hired and told me not to be discouraged because my determination had led to an opportunity for him.  He told me he loved working for Whole Foods and planned to be there the rest of his life.  He was wise and philosophical and said that God had moved through me and my efforts would bear fruit through him. We burst into laughter at the pun since he worked in the produce department and was holding an apple as we talked.  After a hug, I left feeling grateful and moved.    

Several years later, Marylena announced one day that she and Ken were getting married.  I was overjoyed. They both worked hard, gave back to the Mission, and shared the bounty of their garden with others. The joy they felt for each other radiated out to the lucky customers at Whole Foods who encountered them at the cash register or in the produce section.

Recently, though, I began to notice their absence.  At first I passed it off as a shift change. After several weeks I became increasingly concerned until yesterday when I finally caught sight of Marylena as she was going on a break. She grabbed my hand and gently broke the news to me.  Ken had been killed in an accident a month before.  He was working on his truck at home and it rolled over him and he died instantly.  My eyes filled with tears as we hugged. I left the store in a state of disbelief.

How could an accident could take Ken's life now that he had finally found peace with himself, and not earlier when he was out-of-control? It certainly does not seem fair.  But I have learned that the concept of fairness is built on a human sense of right and wrong when the mystery of life prevents us from understanding the bigger picture.  We all want fairy-tale endings and we want to direct how the story unfolds.  

I will miss Ken, but more than that, Whole Foods has lost a great employee. Marylena has lost the love of her life.

But I know from the loss of my own son that the story is not finished, because Ken's spirit, like Max's, has survived and will be active in all who knew him.  

I think back to that cold January night at the Mission with 400 of the most unlikely people packed into a room meant for far fewer souls.  I can hear Beethoven's call for us to stand upright for what is the best, strongest and most exalted about humanity.  "Embrace each other now, you millions!  The kiss is for the whole wide world!  Brothers - above the starry canopy a beloved Father must surely dwell."  

Since Beethoven's Ninth Symphony premiered nearly two hundred years ago, the Ode to Joy, referred to in the lyrics as the "spark of the Gods" has been an anthem for humanity, a universal prayer in a broken world. In a life filled with grief and loss, how can we ever find that spark again?  Beethoven gives us the answer: We must share our broken hearts and hope that in time we will find an open door to walk through, like I did at the Union Mission. 

When the spark of divinity has been lit in the hearts of our brothers and sisters, even a man like Ken may find redemption. 

God rest his soul.