37 “Then the righteous will answer him, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? 38 When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you? 39 When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?’
40 “The King will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.’
After work one day I decided to stop off at the local Cub store to pick up some groceries for my trip home. As I was checking out I glanced two isles over and saw a poorly groomed, disheveled man who looked like he hadn't showered in days paying for his few items with what little he had. Behind him were a well dressed couple with a full cart of food with obvious looks of disdain on their faces as though they wanted to tell this man to just go out and get a job instead of relying on handouts.
Every day in my government job of helping disabled people get back on their feet I hear tales of woe of how successful they were until the onset of disability and loss of their income severely tested their ability to survive.
Homelessness can happen to anybody at anytime anywhere. Homelessness crosses all economic lines. The poorly dressed person in front of you in line may at one time been an accountant for a large bank before short term memory loss no longer enable him to do his job.
One day the HR person calls him in and gives him his walking papers because he no longer could do his job. He clears his desk out and walks out under security escort extremely devastated. Instead of driving home he drives around town until it is ready to go home not knowing how his family would take his job loss. Every morning he has the same routine which is to get dressed and go through the motion of going to work, but instead of his job he heads to the unemployment office to look for work. He does this in hopes that maybe he would find another job before his family can feel the pain of his joblessness. After he receives his final paycheck and the bills keep coming panic begins to set in.
One day he decides to humble himself and go down to the local food shelf and the economic assistance program office to sign up for job training and food stamps. The bills keep coming and threatening letters to foreclosed begin to drift in. The man's wife decides that she has had enough and takes the kids and moves back home with her parents.
Then the day arrives when he comes home only to find a official looking letter on his front door with a different lock that now prevents him from entering his home. Being unable to sleep in his warm bed he is now forced to drive around looking for a place to sleep. Some nights he is lucky when he finds a warm room, but other nights he is forced to pull into a empty parking lot to try to stay warm while trying to sleep. He keeps reminding himself that maybe tomorrow will be a better day and this nightmarish situation will end.
One day this man with his county issued economic assistance goes into the cub grocery store and gets the food he needs to survive before entering the check out line. As he places his food on the conveyor belt he notices the disgusted looks on the faces of the couple behind him wondering if he truly needed those food stamps, or if was just faking it.
Thanksgiving is right around the corner and it is a time for all of us to give thanks for the many blessings of the past year, but those those like the man in this story need more than your disdain looks.
If you have been fortunate to have a home, a job and a loving family won't you take the time to give back by donating your time at your local food shelf, or help a homeless man get back on their feet? This is after all the essence of Christianity.
One day the HR person calls him in and gives him his walking papers because he no longer could do his job. He clears his desk out and walks out under security escort extremely devastated. Instead of driving home he drives around town until it is ready to go home not knowing how his family would take his job loss. Every morning he has the same routine which is to get dressed and go through the motion of going to work, but instead of his job he heads to the unemployment office to look for work. He does this in hopes that maybe he would find another job before his family can feel the pain of his joblessness. After he receives his final paycheck and the bills keep coming panic begins to set in.
One day he decides to humble himself and go down to the local food shelf and the economic assistance program office to sign up for job training and food stamps. The bills keep coming and threatening letters to foreclosed begin to drift in. The man's wife decides that she has had enough and takes the kids and moves back home with her parents.
Then the day arrives when he comes home only to find a official looking letter on his front door with a different lock that now prevents him from entering his home. Being unable to sleep in his warm bed he is now forced to drive around looking for a place to sleep. Some nights he is lucky when he finds a warm room, but other nights he is forced to pull into a empty parking lot to try to stay warm while trying to sleep. He keeps reminding himself that maybe tomorrow will be a better day and this nightmarish situation will end.
One day this man with his county issued economic assistance goes into the cub grocery store and gets the food he needs to survive before entering the check out line. As he places his food on the conveyor belt he notices the disgusted looks on the faces of the couple behind him wondering if he truly needed those food stamps, or if was just faking it.
Thanksgiving is right around the corner and it is a time for all of us to give thanks for the many blessings of the past year, but those those like the man in this story need more than your disdain looks.
If you have been fortunate to have a home, a job and a loving family won't you take the time to give back by donating your time at your local food shelf, or help a homeless man get back on their feet? This is after all the essence of Christianity.
No comments:
Post a Comment