It was so cold on Broadway tonight that I had to pull the hood of my jacket almost entirely over my eyes just to see anything through the wind. There were more shoppers out there than ususal, but they were not making the street any warmer.
The Hallelujah man was there on time. It was around seven when I fist heard him behind me. “JEESSUUUS, JEEESSSUUUS, HALLELUJAH, HALLELUJAH...” I hear him almost every evening, but seeing him in person is a completely different story. He is a thinly black man, maybe in his 70’s. His eyes are covered with a s layer of their own personal mist. His voice is so strong still and he keeps inventing new intonations and songs out of “JEEEsus, and HALLElujah or JEEESUS, halleLUJAH, GLoooooRY, GOOD NEEEWS, jEEEsus.”
He walks down Broadway every single evening and shouts his “songs.” Every evening. He is really a part of the Upper Westside. People here know the Hallelujah man. I never realized that he gives out little pamphlets while he walks. I took one from him. A tiny four pager with the picture of a lit candle on the cover. I really wanted to know how far he walks every night. I knew he walks down Broadway.
Witold: “Excuse me Sir, I hear you every night coming down Broadway and I was wondering where you start and how far downtown you get every evening?”
The Hallelujah man:“EEVereywhere”, he pointed towards the sky.
Witold: Everywhere?
The Hallelujah man: “God is everywhere. EVERYWHERE, EVERYWHERE, EVERYWHERE, EVERYwhere, EVERYwhere.”
He just began walking again. Not looking at me anymore. He had a larger audience than me. “GOD, GOD, GOD, EVERYWHERE, EVERYWHERE, EVERYWHERE, GOD, GOD, GOD...”
I will try to ask him on a warmer day.