My friend and I decided on a recent trip to Los Angeles to stop by the corner of Hollywood Blvd. and Highland and see just what we could see. This is the location of the Kodak Theater where the 81st annual Academy Award celebration was taking place. As we had thought many streets were blocked off and security was everywhere. We parked several blocks from the location and set out. Our first few attempts of finding a great "star gazing" spot weren't panning out, so we ventured further. After walking down a few alleys and another block or two we ended up right on the corner of Hollywood and Highland across the street from all the festivities. In fact, the red carpet pretty much takes up the whole intersection. We staked our claim on our spot and did not move for several hours. We, along with many other people were actually invading the area, territory, of a man who obviously called this corner "home". He was behind us just a few feet and randomly yelled out things. All kinds of things. Sometimes funny, sometimes not. We were kinda in his way. In his altered state of mind however he did have the presence to decorate for his uninvited guests. Security had put up a temporary chain link fence to keep the crowds in order. This man, our unwilling host had put up Christmas decorations on the fence. He brought this up a few times, loudly I might add. As the evening unfolded we saw many stars coming and going from the Kodak Theater. They sparkled with all the glitz and glamour that Hollywood is good at. The gowns were beautiful, the men were handsome and it was all the ingredients that a good fairy tale is written from.
As the evening began to wind down and the stars exited the theater, with most of the women carrying their shoes, life started to return to normal. As I stood on this corner and observed an event that is watched by millions from all around the world this thought kept coming to mind. A few feet behind me was a world apart from what was a few feet in front of me. Behind me was a man that somehow life just hadn't worked out the way things were supposed to work. Who knows what his story is that landed him here on this corner of Hollywood and Highland. What great promise and hope did his life possibly at one time posses? Just in front of me were Hollywood's elite. They are beautiful and talented and accomplished and sought after constantly. Ordinary people want to be like them, want to know all about them, want to look like them. They have arrived. I stood on that corner between two very different worlds. Only a few feet separated what felt like two universes. The cameras that were capturing all of the stars and their arrivals and the details of their designer gowns would never turn just a tiny bit and capture the world on the other side of the sidewalk. People viewing at home had no concept of what was just a few feet away. I thought at one moment, which world am I closer to? I'm not part of Hollywood and honestly don't desire to be. Up close, it's really not that glamorous. Maybe I'm really closer to the man behind me. What makes the difference that I am standing here and he is lying down? Grace, good luck, good fortune. God does after all love this man as much as he loves me. Why am I the one standing?