Today, we had a special guest at the H88:  Job Cohen, the mayor of Amsterdam.  After all these years of living in Amsterdam, it was my first time ever being in the same room as the mayor.  And while I can't even claim to have met the guy this time around -- I still think it's cool that he was standing in the place that I usually stand and using the microphone that I usually use.  His spittle is now mingled with mine (and countless others) on the end of that microphone... Cool, huh?

Job Cohen is a fascinating public figure.  He's been the mayor for over eight years now, and he seems to be almost universally admired throughout the city.  He's a secular Jew, who has the distinction of having been the first public official ever to have married a same-sex couple (in the first city, in the first country ever to do this) -- yet he seems to be quite popular among believers in the city (especially Christians).  He's shut down significant percentages of the "Coffee Shops" (which sell marijuana, not coffee) and "Windows" in the Red Light District (which advertise the services of prostititutes) -- and yet, he seems to remain quite popular among the city's liberal base of support as well.  It's fascinating to see how universally-embraced the mayor seems to be.  In contrast to most other public figures and political leaders, he seems to have a unique ability to quiet criticism and garner support... I might be off here -- since I'm not exactly a regular reader of the local newspapers' opinion columns -- but these are my impressions, at least...

Anyway -- Job Cohen was at the H88 today to officially open the 4th edition of Serve the City, an collaborative effort among churches and Christian organizations in the city to "love our neighbors" in practical ways.  That's a pretty cool initiative, too (with a good website that's well worth checking out) -- but I'm not sure if it ranks slightly higher or slightly lower than Job Cohen's spittle mingling with mine on the microphone at the H88. :-)