If you are reading this blog right now, odds are that you are doing just fine. I'm doing fine, and if I know you half-way then you are probably okay too. Sure I have my problems, and I don't want to belittle your pains too much, but we're all doing okay.
I am being expanded in my understanding of the world lately. I lived in the suburban part of Topeka for 18 years and always drove past the "ghetto" with locked doors and rolled up windows. Out of sight, out of mind. Now I live in Joplin, a small town in southwest Missouri, USA. People are different here. There are a lot of homeless people here, and there are a lot who are close to it. There is a large working class here. There are lots of single moms, jailmate's children, and so many kids with a divided household. People are striving day-to-day to provide for themselves and their kids.
What I hope you realize is that we live in a fairytale. Everyone that I know, especially those willing to read my blog, is a capable, able-minding, physically stable person. I am ashamed to talk about any trials that I've had in my life. I have no horror stories, no drug-addicted parents, no homeless or foodless nights. I am ashamed of any complaint that I've ever had. We are living a fairytale in the sense that we have never been found wanting. Call me a liar after you turn off your computer and you lay in your own bed tonight. Also, in reality we are the minority. Most people are constantly grinding and striving for meager wages. I am sitting in a college dorm on my own laptop, none of which I paid for...don't take that for granted, but don't feel so "blessed" that you think the simple acknowledgement of your blessed status gives you the right to shrug an apathetic shoulder toward those in the gutter.
Now, my Christian family, there is even more to the story. I was doing some training for work, and my instructor told a story of a man who lost mobility from an accident. Another man in my class said, "Wouldn't it just be better to die? I mean you can't do anything on your own?" I laughed quietly, like a fool. Because I thought this guy was so short-sighted that it was laughable. That's because I've lost sight of the grind. People without Christ have no idea to deal with catastrophe. I am that arrogant jerk who forgot to relate to those lost people who need what I so readily take for granted. I'm know I don't deserve saving, but I really should give it to someone else who will love it more than I do. I need to beg for forgiveness for all that I have taken for granted.
Please friends, don't ever forget how fortunate we are; Christian or not you are not meant to serve yourself. Please don't read this and take it as "good thoughts." I don't care if this feeds your desire to think about how fortunate you are if you aren't going to do anything about it. Stop being afraid of homeless people and remember that society once considered them just as much "real people" as you and I. Let's stop turning a blind eye and staying in our dream world. Life is truly a grind outside our fairytale.
