Ward Kelly alerted me to this video from TheBlaze.com. Thanks, Ward!
The people in the following video were speechless after walking by some homeless people on the street. I would like to think I would have been different, but I am not so sure.
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I can frankly admit that (most probably) the same would happen to me unless the Lord nudged me to look at them.
We live in an age where people have become more and more focused on THE SCREEN (computer, TV, movies). Therefore our human visual wraparound perception is not that well-marked anymore. And our thought life has also changed. It is busier than in “ancient times”, we are more focused on what to do next…..and then…..and then…..Oh yes, we are highly stressed people!
What I find interesting is the difference between my own ever-changing perception in the country vs. in a big city. Our city life is hectic and city people are hectic too. Village dwellers are slower and they are more prone to see what happens all around them.
I always love to leave our city with my bike and to cycle from one-horse-town to one-horse-town and from dunghill to dunghill 🙂 , meeting children who still acknowledge me and very old people with whom I can talk heart-to-heart about their past long life. That’s much different in big cities, isn’t it…?
However, precisely those homeless and lonely people in big cities need our appreciation. Sometimes it is enough the look at them – smiling. Few are used to be smiled at and it may need some time until they react. Often times they are drunk all day long because they cannot stand this life any longer without being drugged. Then it is not easy to reach out to them. But we ought not to give up on it!
PS
Jeremy, I just added you to my Google+ circles as “Friends” and “Following”. Oh dear, looking at your Google+ account (which is bursting at the seams 😉 ), I have been wondering whether you might perceive it at all if someone “new” added you…?
Excellent insight, Susanne. Ministry and life is changing quite rapidly, and one large reason is our fixation on screens. I wonder what church will be like in the next 20 years as a result?
As for Google+, I will look for you! Love to connect with people in any way I can.
Thank you, Jeremy. 🙂
wow
I try to look at all homeless I pass…I let the Lord nudge me as to what to do. Sometimes money, sometimes food, sometimes a word. I wish that the interaction was more profound and in depth. I know a few by name…but they move around so it’s by chance that I run into them…
Thanks for showing me this video, Ward! I also try to notice and do what I can to help, but life seems to push me past them.
You might be surprised who you see on the streets.
Even though we know hundreds of homeless, the population is constantly in flux. Whenever I approach anyone on the street, I hope that the first thing they see when they look at me will be a smile. I always try to look at the faces of people approaching me, and when I catch their eye, I say “Hello”. If I know them I try to add something, like “Glad to see you today”. Since many of the homeless we know are in the downtown area, people with business in the area regularly pass by them and look away. Some people cross the street to avoid walking by them.
The video was no surprise to us, and would not be to most of the homeless. When we visit our homeless friends we wear our usual jeans and t shirts, and fit right in. Most people assume we too are homeless and usually refuse to look at us. Maybe they think we’ll ask for money, but I really think that they choose to pretend we’re invisible as people so they won’t feel any need to respond to us as people. We become an obstacle to avoid.
You have developed a wonderful habit of not only seeing the homeless, but talking to them, serving them, loving them, and helping as you can. One task Jesus calls us to is humanize those that society has dehumanized. Thanks for doing this in so many ways!
After reading a couple of your blog postings on homeless, I have attempted to be more open to loving on the homeless in a way that would best represent Jesus which is a big step for me because I would normally be the person looking the other way assuming they were drunk or drugged. Last week I was on vacation in Fort Luderdale and took my three children all 4 and under to eat at Dennys. When I went to park, there was a homeless man walking the streets with a cardboard sign. I asked if he had had breakfast and he said no so I said I would get him whatever he wanted and be back out in a little while with it. We went in and I sat down and thought, “Is that really what Jesus would have done? Would he have simply taken him food?” So I let the waitress know there would be one more and took all my kids out to the street and asked him to come in and have breakfast with us. He declined with a “I’m too busy for that right now” which I thought was hilarious but at least I learned something from Jesus that day. Loving like him does not mean doing a little more than others would do or doing something to make myself feel better. Loving like him is hard, and uncomfortable at times, and for Him is was so much more than that. A sacrifice I will never understand.
I really appreciate your blog. I am learning so much from your writings and from others who comment. Thanks for teaching Jesus everyone.
Thanks, Ragan. That was very courageous of you to ask him to eat with you. Well done.
I have done this myself several times, and so far, have never had one person take me up on the offer. I am not sure why, though maybe Sam might know. It might come from bad previous experiences, I suppose. Maybe they were refused service because of how they looked or smelled, or maybe the person inviting them in for a meal just wanted to beat them over the head with the Gospel or tell them how Jesus could fix their problems. Or maybe they just want to stay out on the street to get money. I have no idea.
I believe that one reason that you left out is the awkwardness of that situation. Being invited to eat with someone that you don’t know can be a bit uncomfortable for some people.
That’s true too. It is very awkward to eat with people you don’t know.
When I first started watching the video I didn’t get it. I was outraged that the videographer would be trying to make a point by embarrassing those walking by not noticing their family members dressed up as “homeless”. Whereby painting the homeless as victims and the people walking by as perpetrators.
Then the thoughts started to surface that this doesn’t have to do with these particular people at all. This is about how the homeless are treated. People walk by them as if they were nothing but part of the scenery. They are people like you and I for whatever reason they are homeless, we need to give them the respect as we would anyone else. Does that mean we should stop and talk with each and every person we pass? Maybe not, but we should treat them like people; smile at them, acknowledge them, help them when we can, but do not treat them like outcast of society by simply ignoring them.
Yeah, I wonder how those people felt too. My wife pointed out, of course, that the “homeless” family members had hats covering their faces and other such things, so it is not really their fault for not seeing their loved ones, but still, the point of the video is as you say, we often ignore or miss the homeless people around us.