outside the normal = homeless

much of what we know and learned as christians revolves around ' normal ' life
the messages and books and theological whatnot address average people
sorta like middle classish
career
auto
house
family
da dee da . ..

how different the world of the homeless
i am regularly surprised by my naivete
   which speaks to my naivete
including my having to backburner my assumptions about what people know, where they're coming from, their mindset about society and life in general ..
and that challenges the norm for christian witness in the 21st century

i'm not dealing with normal
so when you sit in your pew ( or auditorium seat ) and open your bible and listen intently to the preacher and join the band music and buy the latest church tee and hit a starbucks on the way through the foyer .. .
you are not normal to the people i deal with
their normality is quite different

and no wonder it is
they have nowhere to lay their heads
   and sleep is usually sporadic, waking often to check their surroundings and that their stuff is safe
they eat what they can get their hands on
wear used and discarded clothing
shower when they get the opportunity

are diss'ed by the regular society
considered a drain on government resources
assumed to be lazy donothings
or addicts
or thieves

they are the margin, far from the center of what-is-considered-to-be the norm for life on planet earth in these united states
   and most other places
the margin
   the edge of the page that permits a small space for occasional notes
   and, by its existence, lends honour to the main text

the homeless allow the majority of us to feel like we're safe
while they lose their sense of self-respect
watch themselves be avoided
   scoffed-at
   berated
   trashed
...

when i'm communicating or relating in any way with my homeless friends i have to constantly bear in mind who these people are
understand ( what little i can ) their life-condition
that what seems to mean a lot to me matters little to them
and what matters little to me means a lot to them

so that when they're ' off  ' in their behaviour, askew in their attitude
mine is to remember they slept outdoors again last night
again
like for the umpteenth night
under the stars
and the moon

we can't communicate with these people like we do with most of the other people we know
our assumptions are often invalid
we need to be engaged in their world somehow
open to their thinktype
willing to learn from them
wanting to understand them

them
' the least of these '

¿ isn't that what Jesus said ?
¿ isn't that what Jesus did ?

a servant is not greater than his master
but a servant can be like his master

go and do likewise
for in each one is the imago dei
and in some of these homeless friends the Son's face shines far brighter