abuse and homelessness and balm ..

i heard her crying, sitting in the breezeway
she covered her face as she talked
hoarse, barely audible rapid talk
I scarcely understood any of it..

I just knew she was hurting bad
distraugh
endoftherope stressness
she raced the words
her thoughts having a difficult time keeping-up
mostly she just wanted someone to talk at
there was backlogged stuff there
underneath
and some new stuff threw her over her limit, again
she was bustin' loose
seams fraying
thread lying everywhere
undone
.. she simply wanted out
enough !
and she was high
trying desperately to flush the mess
to extinguish the burning hurt of her life
. .     ............. .

abuse
abused
dead-tired of the abuse
" you can crash here tonight.. just need to do me some favors.. " ..
over and over and over.. always trade help for abuse

maybe we think of homelessness primarily in terms of
drugs
drunkenness
mental issues
dropout
as in failure as a societized human
               or
no roof
no food
no proper clothes

we ought to give serious consideration to the other abuse
the abuse of the person
emotionally
verbally
sexually
just plain ol' inhumanly

take a girl on the street
see her as worthless
trash
usable ..
go from there ..  .

it is my conviction that Jesus, to whom all judgement has been given, will take ' great pains ' to point out our abuses of the homeless

we expend much energy in driving back the forces that destroy our planet
threatened life forms
threatened water sources
threatened atmosphere
threatened plants and spaces ..

there are greater assaults in play
like the assault against our homeless human family
our brothers and daughters and mothers and grandfathers who live life on the very edge of society
the offscouring of humanity
the dregs
 ...

she has every right to be treated as human, because she is human
she deserves human
regardless

we cry over the inhumanity of child labour
and so we should
over the horror of the sex trade, especially among the youth
and so we should
over the challenge of food and potable water supply
and so we should
..
yet
there are 20,000+ homeless children on the streets of new york city today
today, 2014
amidst the massive advances across the spectrum of science

they are there in front of us
hands extended
looking for some kind of help
relief

Jesus' prayer in response to his disciples' request ' teach us how to pray ' is poignant here
for these people live from day to day
not knowing tomorrow
with no security of any kind - neither economic nor health nor physical
all is at risk for them
every day
" give us the things we need to live today "
....   . .   .

they beat her
they steal her gear on the street
homeless stealing from homeless

how much of it is a person supposed to swallow
every day  ? ?

we live with the stress of road rage and office politics and not-enough-money
pause that
and think of yourself living in the streets
with the animals, and the human animals
every day
every night

think on it
try to envision it

now ..
pray
and help every one you come across however you can
include a kind word
a hug
a listen - sometimes more significant than dollars or food

we can't solve homelessness
humanity is too selfish for that
but we can assuage some of it for someone today
and for someone tomorrow ..
one day maybe for somehundred or somethreehundred

' is there no balm in Gilead ' ? ?
we are the balm of Jesus
aromatic
soothing
refreshing
hopefull ..
but balm bottled is useless
balm is for healing
for applying to the sick the injured the raw-scarred the broken
bottled-up balm is just so much gutterwater
 .. .

by the time she left a couple hours later
she was somewhat more ' rational '
what with hot fresh soup and chicken
a hot shower
and a clean zip-up sweater
a couple cigarettes
and a listener

maybe she felt a little less like ending it all by then
i hope to see her again ..

. .  .       .

God helping me, i want to tell their story
hisstory
herstory
maybe ourstory of neglect and uncaring for our siblings created in the image of God
just like us

we are, at our core, the same

God helping me
preserving me from distraction
from being waylaid
from my own selfishness
from the drama of stress and the stress of drama

i'm headed for ' higher ground '
Lord .. lift me up and let me stand there
bringing them all with me
my homeless family
to you
rehumaned
reconciled ..
at peace and in love

shalom and shalom