decency and the homeless ..

2 men sit behind a bush outside the church on the side with no walkways
methinks they came for lunch
they obviously didn't attend the service ..

the only way to get into the lunchroom is through the church
if you try to enter from the external doorway you are refused
even if you attended church that morning ..
you must enter in at the strait gate ..

will they get lunch?

..

i'm not trying to set this up ..

i don't know if they enter the church, service over, and try to access the lunchroom if they'll get in ..
i hope they will

`|`

somethings been dogging my mind the last week
chasing me every time i allow my self to be still ..
can't shake it off
like a bad smell everywhere i go
   maybe that's why i'm so hesitant ..
   maybe the smell is me

i've attempted to write it down, more than once, in my journal
i've faced that smell before
and while others seem to be ok with it, or at least let it pass, it assaults me ..
a furrowed questioning pallor darkens my aura
..

i understand fully the threats to a well-ordered activity, like lunch, where homeless are invited ..
anyone who has any experience with homeless folk know there are a ton of issues facing these people, and those things pile-up in each life, to one degree or another, often manifesting in extremes -
highly sensitive and emotional to perceived threats (and 'threats' us 'normal' people would readily dismiss)
and sounds too, like someone tapping a beat on the table
loudity - these folk live outdoors for the most part
contrarily, shutting-out everyone else, eating silently
sudden outbursts for no apparent reason ..
and on and on ..
there's no end to the outplay of emotions and quirky mannerisms consequent to extended life on the street ..

i get it ..

and i get the threat to the 'normal' among us whoo simply want to be part of a 'normal' society, driving normal cars and eating normal food and doing normal things, like scurrying off to catch the patriots/bills game ..
don't need smelly dirty grumpy threats-to-my-safety people around me .. just need to live my normal life thank you

and, too, i get the heart of the churches that extend themselves beyond the normal lines and welcome the homeless into 'church' and offer them meals ..
some go much further and provide services, like medical and counselling and job placement and temporary housing and AA and NA and group discussions for those who want help .. mostly help out of homelessness

that is wonderful, and christian communities that take this on deserve much accolade and encouragement and support

`|`

during my all-too-brief experience with homelessness i had the opportunity to experience them - their ways, their concerns, their fears, their mentality and worldview, their poverty, their continually having to be helped and served and the diminution in self-worth that travels with that ..

and that was a west coast experience, quite different from a south experience - much more liberal and loud and in-your-face and obviously unnormal and don't-give-a-shit ..

i'm not any expert at all - far far from
but something manifested in me as i walked through that experience ..

everyone needs welcome
everyone

there were very few things i drew the line on - violence, aggression, using, theft ..
aside from that everyone was welcome
   even the ones the homeless themselves marginalized
      and, yes, there are classes among homeless people
i didn't care
as long as you didn't cross one of those lines while you were here, you were welcome

some did cross a line, and they were banned, either for a time or permanently, depending ..

..

when drifting homeless came to the town i was in and were looking for a place to be accepted, the word they got on the street became " check _______ "
.. us

they came barefooted
they came nasty
they came smelly
they came after longtime drunkenness
they came left-over high
they came obviously high
they came beaten
they came bruised, wornout, bandaided, scruffy, in dire need of a shower a shave a change a manicure
they came with baby
..

bob'd sit there rocking backandforth on his way down from his recent meth dive
richard recovering from his drinkbinge of the last 3 days, still mumbling and talking to himself ..
and the chick that, during a conversation, told me she had 60 children .. serious as a judge ..
..

i know a little about these people
far too little

so ..
where am i headed here ?

..

there are the naaysayers that want to shut out all the refugees because there may be Islamic threats among them
..

i'm thinking ..

seems to me the only people Jesus shut-out were
   the
religious
   the
too rich
..

still thinking ..
Mr Pharisee Nicodemus had a bit of a time with him
but he eventually apparently had a change of heart

herod

seems everyone i can think of ( like simon (?) who invited Jesus to lunch and then he and his buddies got all turned-around when that wicked loose woman washed Jesus feet with her tears ) fall dead centre into those cat's ..

demonic
paupers
lepers
blind
beggars
rich
poor
leaders
foreigners
oppressors ( romans )
samaritans ( outliers )
hungry
sick
maimed
..
ya, there weren't any drunks mentioned ( although he made wine for a wedding, late on, when people had already had their reasonable share and couldn't tell much of a difference in the quality of the wine any more )
nor drugged

but addicted ?
o ya, dude
i mean what do you call it when you're too rich to give away everything to the poor and follow Jesus .. to follow Jesus ..
and the gluttonous ..
'course we don't have these problems among the 'normals' in our church
and the pornicious
and the well-disguised alcoholics

and
the men that rape their wives
and the ones that cheat on business trips and golf weekends
and lie on their tax returns
and ..

but wait !!

those people aren't threats to my safety !
they don't smell bad or wear dirty clothes or cuss or shout-out or beg on the street or carry knives ..

ya

you're right

`|`

sometimes the greatest threat to us is ourself
and our eenyteenyitsybitsy views of the world
   and of what Jesus lived
      and said
our penchant for safety that drives us to 'carry'
   in church
our proclivity for lines and categories
'normal'

`|`

news ..
these people are not normal
they have been marginalized maligned spit-on beaten-down and beaten raped pushed further and farther out fed the scraps from our table

they are anything but normal

but in a world where we cause significant ruckus over diminishing tree populations and butterflies and bees and turtles and rhinos and whales and ..
   ( which are all just and justifiable issues )
how come ..
we can't find room for the un-normal human ?

isn't there room for the not-run-of-the-mill homeless among us ?

the least of the least of these ..

i've seen homeless ministries shut-down because of it

sad, that

sad

..

yes, they're not ready to change ..
   yet ..

they're stuck in their addiction
in their mentalillness
in their severe depression
in their tryingtogetpastthelastbeating
   or rape
in their all-too-stressed-out survive-mode
trying to think of why they shouldn't simply end-it-all, take the leap of faith and jump, finally, from that bridge
   where they've stood a hundred times before and dared themselves to jump
      jump! damn you!

while allthewhile we look to accommodate the ' decent ' ones among them
make them like us, socially acceptable

and leave the unhandleable ones out there
on the fringe
locked-out
can't come in for a meal
no clothes for you ..
you don't stack-up to the church's better-than-society's standards for homeless help

somehow
we have to find a way to help those offscouring of the homeless
the bottom-feeders
the ones even the homeless despise

the least of the least of these

somehow ..

and i don't have to be able to solve their addiction
or be equipped ..

i just have to have a hand to reach out
a smile to give
a heart that sees human in need
a willingness to have my sense of decency 'abused'
for the love of God
for the image of God in them

..

i don't get to judge or rank or draw lines


i understand they are not normal

but neither am i
   in God's intention for humanity
and neither are you

ya, we fit-in here
but how would we feel if we got shutout of the Kingdom because we're not normal in the Kingdom ..

and Jesus gave his sovereignty and his supremity and his godhood and his living life and his dying death
for me

just like he did for them
the least of the least of these

i can see it no other way ..
in my naivete