No, not Elliot Ness and the FBI.
And not the caste in India
People here, in the richest country in history, living on the street.
Many have problems, yes. Drug problems, mental problems. Some are just very, very short of luck.
It's hard to look at them, so a lot of us don't.
Some will give them money. But if you look closely...the money's dropped from an outstretched hand into an upturned hand. There's no physical contact.
The homeless know their place.
Aww. SO sad, eh? I know someone who worked with the homeless here and one of the gentleman had a Ph.D and had been very high up in some sort of high tech or research company. One thing happened and then another and he was homeless. She said for a man of such high acheivements, he was broken in so many ways. Very sad.
ReplyDeleteBut, there, for the grace of God, go I. I never look at a homeless person as a stat, I see them as someone's loved one on a very hard path.
They're definitely not statistics.
DeleteIt just burns me when their support is cut, and our president takes golfing vacations at the taxpayers' expense...or the 'stars glitter' at the Oscars.
I don't care about their glitter. I do care about people in need.
When there are citizens of the wealthiest countries on Earth, dying of hunger two blocks from a grocery store, it just plain pisses me off.
ReplyDeleteWhen people spend more on clothes than they give to charity? Same thing.
I USED to say "when people spent more on dog food than they did on other people"? That was before I met you and B. Dogs are just angels without wings.
Agreed. And actually, here - the dogs eat - and get medical care - first. Responsibilities are serious.
DeleteThey are angels. Today is a bit of a horrible day. Bleeding. The guys are taking care of me.
Andrew - this is certainly one of those tough subjects, isn't it? Kevin and I have a box in our truck filled with water bottles and packages of food stuff. We can't give money, but we always offer water and food. It's not great food, by any means, but we've been told it all has value in the homeless community because each item (a snack pack of Oreos, a fruit roll-up, etc.) can be traded and bartered for other items), but the bags also include a print out of all the local shelters and churches who do help homeless folks.
ReplyDeleteWe must never turn away. Never.
Those are really good actions - barter is one thing that keeps the homeless going. They need it.
DeleteI wish I could do something like that, but illness really prevents most things...and, perhaps more to the point, I tend to scare people. I don't mean to, and am usually unaware of it, but too much time spent doing things that were somewhat hard has left a mark. That's what Barbara tells me.
And we must never turn away. Because when we do, we turn away from Jesus.