“God loves you!” exclaimed Dustin to the commuters in the Metro Red Line subway car while standing next to me with his hand just above mine on the rail, and I started to laugh a little inside for several reasons. For one, the fear of being pulled into his performance as an unwitting volunteer being in such close proximity when I was hoping to enjoy an uneventful ride home was challenging the stoic poker face I was desperately holding onto, but the main reason for my internal chuckles was that the message he shared was one that I had received directly though the events of the day and felt that truth deep into my core.

You see, that morning I was summoned downtown to the Stanley Mosk Courthouse to appear for jury duty which had thrown a big monkey wrench my work and family plans for the day, and I was stressing out about finding time to learn a few songs for gigs I had coming up over the next few days. Being called into jury duty did not fit well into my schedule, however it turned out to be the best thing that could have happened for me.