Conversations With the Homeless

Conversations With the Homeless.

Dennis Cardiff followed my blog recently and is my habit, I popped over to check his out as I do with all new follows.  His link is above, I would encourage you to take a look.

The reasons for homelessness are as varied as the homeless themselves.  Reactions to them range from pity to loathing, but the worst is probably blindness.  I think there is very little in this world that is more horrible than to be invisible, to be unworthy of notice.

I don’t work downtown in a large city.  I don’t often pass through the areas where the homeless congregate.  I don’t see the same ones daily, or even weekly, but they are precious to me just the same and I look for them as often as I am near their “turf”.  Many I will not see for months at a time, but I never stop praying and hoping for an opportunity to tell them one more time that they are something of value – that they are worth knowing.

Most of my contact comes when they are in jail.  When there are not too many of them, I see them weekly.  Right now there are 8 in the county jail (an 18 mile drive to nowhere, with only 2 visits per day allowed), so I am only seeing them every other week.  I send them books and postcards (our facility doesn’t permit letters – they can send me a 6 page letter, but I have to reply on postcards that are less than 6 inches by 4 1/2 inches).

When people talk about prostitutes, homeless, addicts, bums, etc., I have at least a dozen names and faces in each category.  This isn’t an undesirable mass of sub-human creatures.  These are daughters, sons, husbands, wives, mothers, fathers, parents, children, aunts, uncles, nieces, nephews, brothers, sisters, grandchildren – real people, with real stories and real value.

Take a chance.  Do lunch with a homeless person.  Make a new friend.  Change a life – probably your own

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1 Response to Conversations With the Homeless

  1. Thanks for linking to my post. It is much appreciated. I agree, “When people talk about prostitutes, homeless, addicts, bums, etc., I have at least a dozen names and faces in each category. This isn’t an undesirable mass of sub-human creatures.” Each person has a story, each has a family. ~ Dennis

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