What is truth, we are hearing my truth today as never before, but truth varies all too much. Today we look at skewed truth related to homelessness and how we interact with them. Truth and reality and facts all impact our truth and our truth frames how we function in this world. The government has its truth, Non-Profits have theirs and the homeless theirs, but what is truth? But there is only one absolute Truth that never changes, the Word of God and our care standards for the homeless need to line up.
Simply Truth, Ready for some Truth
Homelessness is presented as an isolated and insulated occurrence that happens everywhere but here in a local and given town or area and that is not truth. Homelessness is documented with skewed facts to show that it happens to that certain population group only and not to a vast and wider one. The paint brush used to speak of and refer to the homeless population is wide and broad and covers all homeless with one stroke and thus drives all humanity away so that no help is seen as useful. Mistruths, misconceptions and assumptions are the normal when authorities and leaders are speaking of the homeless population so that they do not feel the need to focus on helping them over generating tax dollars. But let’s go down a few bunny trails for a moment or two.
In any town USA there are the have’s and have not’s, there are the business owners and the workers, the affluent and the struggling. As well as the criminal element and the church going crowd, the ones who love to do good and help and those who never seem to do anything but cause trouble. You have whole families and broken families, blended and emerged families and those that have no families. I could continue but the picture should be clear, there are different components to any given geographical area that is made up with human beings populating it. However, it seems if it be a town, city or community we do not paint over problems with a single stroke from one group to another. Meaning we know that the struggling will struggle, and we help them, the workers need jobs, broken families need assistance, and it is provided, and so on.
So then my question is this, why when one is homeless and struggling are they then painted with one single brush stroke and tossed aside? A working mom, abused and terrified hiding from her abuser on the street’s due no beds, is she to be lumped in with all other street people? A war veteran, wounded and hurting, using alcohol to cope with the memories of the war, how do we help him, or do we just lump and dump him in with all other homeless? What about a young 18 old year fresh our of the failed foster system, do we paint him and dump him as well? Injured on the job and now awaiting a settlement to re-engage life, but homeless while waiting, where do they fit? Sick and unable to pay for food, lodging and medical expenses, so they lost everything and are yet sick and now homeless, where do they fit?
Remember the quicksand story from earlier, once the sand traps you, help has to come from outside the sand trap, truth be told, in Anytown USA that help is rare and hard to find. No homeless person can fix the problem by themselves, but that is not what we are taught to believe. That is why the paint brush that paints them with a single brush also whitewashes the wall between us and them.
We have been being told altered truth for so many years about so many things, that it is hard to now lock onto an hold the absolute truth, be cause are not sure of it. That was there intended goal, those that are trying to change America and it’s mighty foundations. But it also affects how we see and deal with the homeless, real truth is this, they are not all bum, alcoholics, lazy, and unwilling to work, need to throw that darn paint brush in the trash and start over again.
Will You Continue with Truth Meaning Two Different Things
OR
You Can Accept Facts and Extend Mercy
