Surfing ,Pacific Coast Highway, and Jesus Christ.

God works in mysterious ways and it is about time once again I testify to His greatness and living miracles. I don’t have it all together. For certain I have been struggling with life in a very personal way as well as being totally aghast at the current events that have just about overwhelmed the populace. I don’t believe I would be alive today if not for Christ Jesus and his ministry. Whoa! right there you say? I’m out of here. Don’t need any washed up surfer/punkrocker/veteran telling me about God, you say. Come on man, hear me out. First lets get into the way back machine.Set the dial to 1974,Sherman. Yeah,man! That”s me all right! (funny looking pants, I know. They were called flairs. Got them at a place named Sears Roebuck) A whole lot of firsts going on here, first drink of beer, smoking my first joint and having my first gander at pornography (yeah,Playboy magazine) Well now these activities took time to wreck my life, almost 40 years. So what the freak does this have to do with the price of a dub sack in L.A you ask? Just setting the tempo, G-Money, now chill as a good recounting and testimony take time, like the Meistro’s former favorite alcoholic beverage Makers Mark, it takes years to reach maturity.Now Sherman, hit that dial again and set it for 20013!
Perhaps you have been following me blog, mate and you know I have been in recovery for just about two years now. Having been devastated and enlightened all at once in a series of events surrounding an infamous pornography performer and yours truly. So yeah here we are in May 2013, yeah, that is a smart phone and yes I know, what is left of my hair is 80% gray and No, we cant go back to 1974. Yeah Yea, I know I looked much better and so did you and yes that is a “smart” phone so rest assured you are in 2013 presently. So check it out as I had gotten clean and wishing to help my dear Mary, I found my way to an organization named Treasures ( they help woman exit the sex trade) and received an invite to their annual Gala fundraiser. Yes I did kick down, Ok, I’m not that big of a kook. So when are you gonna get to the God part Ger-I? you ask. Hey relax Stevo, I’m working on it.

So the church I attend (Venice Church) has a series of sermons on God calling believers to have faith, specifically to stay when things get tough or dicey and conversely to go (as in on a mission or ministry or serve in some capacity). Well back to the sobriety thing.I have been struggling mightily to stay clean, meetings and prayer etc. So to get out of my head, I decide to go surfing. As I am watching the waves at a nice right hand point break, that begins with the 12th letter of the English alphabet,still contemplating just giving in to temptation, I pray that the Lord will give me a way out of the temptation STAY. In about 5 or 10 minutes two good surfer buddies, Brock and Greg pull up in a pick up truck and spot me while yukking it up. Hey, Ger-I good to see ya, man. suit up, and get out there dude! As you can see I made it out to the surf and had a blast for a few hours.
Prayer one answered.BOOM just like that.
So I’m motoring down Pacific Coast Highway (PCH) listening to a Christian Radio station rocking to Casting Crowns,and Boom! I see her, she is 20 if she is a day Jumping up and down on PCH well endowed to say the very least,jiggling like a jello all over, wearing short shorts,a halter top and nothing else. She holds a sign that reads, “NEED JUMP” Having been shot, stabbed and robbed before, I immediately think set up. There is a thug lurking just behind the wall or in the car with malevolent intent. I blast past, however I hear a tiny voice getting louder saying, “GO see about it.” Flipping a U turn I drive back a 1/4 north and already there is a pick up truck ( no, it is not my buddies) with two fiends just itching to do some dirt slowing up, leering at her. The way a wolf leers at a lost ewe. I pull into the dirt lot and she runs up to the window panting , “Thanks” as she is out of breath. Look, Sherm, I’m not going to lie to you, this girl is super fine man but I contain myself and ask, “What is going on? She explains she needs a jump, as the battery dead. I look over the 2012 BMW 3 series and notice the AZ plates, suitcases and piled up clothes as well as scan for the lurker. Well turns out no thug is plotting a crime. She is alone. Check it G $, I’ve been to the rodeo several times over ok? I rapidly sus out she is a working girl, stripping in a club and all the other vice that goes along with that activity. So we get to talking, talking about surfing, about my daughter,how I got clean,and life in general.I drop the Treasures recovery outfit too, as she is telling me about her Aderal use and she says she only takes a half a pill when she is stripping to cope. No it i s not prescribed. I tell her I understand. I know she uses everything under the sun but I’m just attempting to engage in motivational interviewing. Oh did I tell yeah I’m at UCLA learning addiction therapy? No? (another story for another time, homie). Well we got the car started,just as an ubiquitous L.A roach Coach arrived, so I buy her a sandwich, gave her my card, and the Treasures info. Before departing, I asked her if she had ever heard of Jesus. “Yes, but I’m spiritual but not religious.” She said. “Well darling, I say as she giggles at me calling her darling. “Jesus is the most spir-it-tual fellow that ever walked the earth. He died a horrible death in testement to his faith.”Taking her hand in mine I pray the Lord will look over her. In parting she said, Thanks , you didn’t even try to sex me up like all the other men”

BTW Sherman where in the world did you get those flair pants?

Sometimes God asks you to stay, sometimes he asks you to go.
http://gerilewis.wordpress.com/2011/09/27/pornography-and-the-harm-it-causes/

http://iamatreasure.com/

http://www.venicechurch.com/touching-base/online-sermons.html

American childhood .South Bay Surfing.

The Redondo Beach sky is a slate and steel  grey as is the Pacific ocean, a stiff offshore breeze from the east grooms the peaky sandbar formed waves perfectly for wave ridding! Waiting for my buddy, suddenly I recall the mornings surfing Redondo with my younger brother.   Mom and Dad divorced early, the father I never knew went off to Vietnam and the family broke apart, fragmented much like a grenade  in the “Nam.” Mom moved to Hermosa Beach and Redondo having enough of Venice, CA. I stayed with Grandma in Venice. However I would visit with Mom and brother often. “Lil” Bro became ingrained in the South Bay surf culture, first washing dishes and then waiting tables at The Spot  cafe and surfing! Surfing all day the Redondo Breakwater, Avenues, Hermosa Pier,Rat Beach,  Lunada Bay, The PV Cove, Hagertys,  and my favorite the short but fun ride at the long gone Horseshoe at the Redondo Pier. This wave was named the Horseshoe as the wave broke in an enclosed section of the old pier surrounded on 3 sides by pier pilings. The waves approached from the west and spectators viewed from overhead. Yeah overhead. They would throw quarters if you got a good ride and diving off our boards we dove down about 20′ for our reward. Sometimes I would actually place my feet against the barnacle and muscle encrusted pilings to get a good push into a wave rather than paddling into the peak.  The hairs on my once full and brown hair are mostly grey now and my surfing has been regulated  by age and other demands. Yet I can still hear my ‘lil bro’s voice on the breeze. “Come on, it is pumping! Let’s go to the Horseshoe!” I love you lil brother.  Thanx Eric for the photos!

Venice Surf-A-Thon Surf Contest. (Random musings and reflections )

Twenty years!  The words roll of my tongue yet only now register in the grey matter. T-e-w-e-n-t-y yearszzzzzz of producing and directing and yes even surfing several years in the Venice Surf-A-Thon  surf contest.  Doing the math the contest has averaged about 55 men, women, and children a year. The first contest we had about 12 contestants at the peak 165! Well as I calculate ,lets see now uhhhh 55 times 20 equals  ummm, a heck of allot of surfers!  Venice Surf-A-Thon has always been for you oh dear and loyal local. As the bourgeois and corporate devour the last vestigial remnants and even hijack and sell our memories to the Orwellian nightmare to the one world government’s Statsi aka Google, Surf-A-Thon remains true to you. Yes there have been many opportunities to sell out to the grotesque, the disgusting, and soulless monster that goes by the names of Quiksilver, or Hollister or the many other poisonous tentacles of silicon beach. However friend I have remained true to you. No banners, no suits, no posers. Just surfing and your dedication. Take a look at the dedication and craftsmanship of the trophies and the art work in the tshirt designs. This is love, love of surfing and community. T-w-e-n-t-y let the word roll, baby,  off your tongue and savor it. You deserve it!  Yeah! and you will be stoked to know the Quiksilver shop , that opened up on Venice blvd? Shuttered, it’s doors about a year ago. Not enough profit margin. http://gerilewis.wordpress.com/venice-surf-a-thon-surf-contest/