You Might Be Homeless too, Ya Know?

Once someone very close said to me, 

"The only thing separating you from a homeless person is one or two major tragedies.”

How true that statement seemed to me then, and how potent it is today. 

There are a myriad of potential catastrophes that can land us into a life of impoverishment and misery. They lurk just beneath the thin surface of protection that we all take for granted and weigh on so heavily.

You might, for example, hit a pedestrian on your way to work and find yourself wrapped up in a lawsuit (that you lose!); likewise, you could lose your job; or perhaps you get terribly ill and are unable to work or pay your hospital bills. In fact, all three of these things may happen all at once, and often it is the case that people are experiencing simultaneous tragedies at one time.

Certainly, tragedy is by no means the exception… and one would be wise to consider that when things are “good”, they are experiencing a profound blessing and are more than willing and encouraged to exercise some gratitude due to the fact that they are reasonably well constituted by forces often out of their control.

This is wisdom to live by, be grateful for the blessings you do have. Additionally, don’t so easily denigrate others' seemingly miserable lives without proper knowledge of who they are as individuals.

We’ve made the error in our community in generalizing the homeless person as belonging to a class of all homeless people. The man or woman so sadly slumped in a sidewalk tent is not viewed as an individual, but identified by their group- homeless. This classification comes with all the attendant stigma associated with the group.

It’s important to remember that the difference between a homeless man and yourself, is not so great as you may believe. Without recognizing how it may be possible on a personal level to be homeless, we will operate towards the homeless in a way that is not fully representative of all involved in the homelessnes problem as it is. This means that we can’t begin to understand the problem, if we don’t strive to come to know how the homeless ended up in their position.