A man wearing a dirty black and white striped shirt and jeans takes the seat next to me and immediately asks if I'm religious.

"Cause I'm religious," he says. "I just want to know, because you know I can drink and still be religious. If I want to stop drinking, it's because I want to, not because I'm disobeying God. I'm not defying the Lord."

A black gentleman in neat gray slacks and a white work shirt sits down on the other side of the man in the striped shirt. Meanwhile, the first man introduces himself as David.

"David, how are you," the nicely dressed man says. David looks around and smiles at him.

"How are you Hamad," says David, pulling a tattered red Bible out of the small duffel bag between his legs.

"You want to drink, okay," Hamad says, picking up where David's reasoning had left off. "All I can do is pray for you. Also, I can give you a little advice. Listen to my words, and listen to what the Savior says. Read Matthew 19:16."

David opens to the passage and begins reading. The passage lists all the things one must do to attain eternal life, and says that poor men have an easier time getting into heaven than rich men. David reads, "Do not murder, do not commit adultery, do not smoke, do not steal..."

Hamad cuts him off. "It does not say 'do not smoke.' Read the Lord's words, not your words." After reading a few more verses, David says, "I have spent hours reading the Bible. I don't see how any of this or anything in the Bible relates to drinking."

"You love money and drinking more than God," says Hamad.

"Well, when I was getting drunk every day, I was having a great time," David replies. "I think Jesus wants that. If that ain't what he wants, then I'm bummin'. Shoot me now, Lord."

"You are not a true believer," Hamad says, frowning. "You are a half-believer. And only true believers enter God's kingdom."

"I think it's their own business if people want to smoke and drink," says David, defensively. "But I guess the Bible also says God's people are the achievement of God, and I'm no achievement. I'm pathetic. I went into this church the other day, and somebody told me I couldn't be a Christian just because I didn't shower." David looks at the ground.

"Foxes have holes, birds have nests, but people have no natural place to sleep," David complains.

"Yes, but Jesus had no place to sleep," says Hamad.

"Oh, I'd love to see Jesus camping out in the street. No, I bet he slept in nice places sometimes. But the Bible does say he suffered a lot."

"Suffered more than you know. He slept in the street every night like you sleep in the street."

"Well, even I sleep in shelters a lot of the time."

A portly man wearing no shirt interrupts the dialogue as he nears. Behind the bench, he picks through a trashcan with his wooden cane. He swats at the trash using the cane, knocking pieces along the ground with his one-handed golf swing.

Hamad excuses himself, tells David he'll see him later and heads toward the street. David stands, waves goodbye, and strolls over to a pair of young men in dark slacks and ties who identify themselves as Jehovah's Witnesses. David seems happy to have found the two evangelists. After a lengthy conversation, the duo tells David that he's always welcome at their church whether he's bathed or not. "In fact," they say, "there's a church just across the river in Harvard Square."