Squatbook

I am so happy that the novel Squat is coming out today.  I am sitting in a building that was once the site of an abandoned synagogue.  It is about twenty blocks from Wall Street.  I used to visit people who lived here in this space through the winter.  They kept warm by burning pieces of wood in a shopping cart.  I am aware that many people now move through our neighborhood and are very satisfied with their new apartments.  I am also aware of a group of people that still live in the shadows.  They go unnoticed by the newcomers.  The newcomers pass by those who are struggling and don’t even seem to notice.  This book is about some of those who have gone unnoticed. 

Today at our mission church, a guy shouted out to me, “Hey, you dedicated your new book to me!  Thanks a lot!”  The dedication says, “To those who lived in abandoned buildings and have already climbed the ladder.”  In a way, he is right.  This fellow used to be a crack addict and would come to our Bible study looking for help.  He was always a likeable guy, but he was so needy.  Now he is like an apostle.  Christ has changed his life and he has helped so many people.  Today he led the worship.  He really has climbed the ladder, but when I use the word “ladder” in the book, it has a little bit different sense…

     I remember reading about a wandering scholar in the Middle Ages named Muretus.  He was poor.  He was traveling in an Italian town and he became sick.  He was taken to the equivalent of a hospital for the homeless.  The doctor, never dreaming that his patient could speak Latin, said to another doctor, “What do we do with this worthless wanderer?”  At that point Muretus sat up, looked the doctor in the eye, and said, in Latin, “Call no man worthless for whom Christ died.”  Then he lay back down.

    Even though the situation and the names have changed, my hope was that this novel would be able to say the same thing.