(ThyBlackMan.com) Homeless people are people too. One wrong financial mistake, and yes it could happen to you. A man with a good job could be sleeping on a bench made of wood. You say “not me” but oh yes you could. Have you ever looked at a homeless person and just shook your head? Did you make assumptions about how he or she got there – or why he or she stays in that hole? Did you assume he had no education or that he was just lazy, sorry and a deadbeat? The recent incident in Los Angeles should spark nationwide discussion of how we treat homeless people, almost as if they are less than human. And that’s wrong, very wrong on so many levels. I’m glad Christ did not think like us or we all would have been on our way to hell.
The fact is neither you nor I know how or why that person ended up homeless on the streets. Over 20 years ago when I worked downtown, I had a nice high rise office and I wore a business suit every day. One day my co-workers and I went to the nearby park to get a blue ribbon, prize winning hot dog from a cart in the park in the center of town. It was a beautiful day so I decided to sit there and enjoy my lunch. I sat on a bench where a homeless man was also seated. He looked at me and smiled. When I asked him why he was smiling, he told me it was because I had the good sense to know that I was not better than anyone else.
He was right, I was better off but not better than. The man proceeded to tell me how he was once very wealthy. Then he pulled out an old beat up wallet and began to show me picture of his former house, office, cars and degrees. He lost it all in an unfair divorce where the judge gave everything to his wife but required him to keep paying for it all – the house mortgage, the car payment etc. Tears formed in my eyes as I realized that day that I was no better than him – better off but no better than. He had achieved more than me but had it all taken away. THAT COULD BE ANY OF US!
The Bible says our lives do not consist in the abundance of things that we have, yet all too many of us place so much value on material things. And for many of us who think we have nice cars and houses, some of those things own us. We become slaves to mortgage payments, car payments and debt – all because many of us want to look like the Jones’, impress people we do not know and appear as if we have arrived. But what about our relationships, our families, our spirituality, our peace, our health? If we are not prospering in these areas, I ask you, are we really prospering at all?
In teaching seminars, workshops and lectures, I often say that success is the ability to live your life the way you want to, the way you should and the very best you can. Success is therefore not based on what other people define as success for you. The American Dream is interesting because someone else cannot and should not dream for you when they neither know you, nor your purpose nor your potential. You should have your own dreams and visions backed by your own motivation, inspirations, gifts and talents. Never let anyone dream for you. If you do, you will be carrying out their plan, not yours. But you definitely should have a plan – in other words, a destination and a mapped out path to get there. And the sooner you develop your plan, the better. Ironically I often here our people say “Living The Dream” when referring to Martin Luther King Jr. But that was HIS dream, what about yours? African American students in schools everywhere should write essays entitled “I Have Another Dream” or better yet, “I Have A Vision”.
A good job, money in the bank and a 401(k) and a college education do not guarantee that you will never end up homeless. I have all of those and I know people who have all of those as well, yet at one time they were homeless. The big picture is a lot bigger than you might think. If I believed in luck, I would call it the luck of the draw. A great many people have said it would never happen to them, only to lose their jobs in a recession, go to jail on a false charge because they had a “public pretender”, an accident or illness, huge debts, massive medical bills or a bitter, all-consuming, life-sucking divorce. It is wise to put things in place for emergencies like emergency funds, savings, insurance etc. But even then, life still happens. We should only look down on someone when we are lifting them up.
Then there is the big one. You might find this statement to be ominous, but sometimes God takes you through the wilderness. A man asked Christ how he could inherit the kingdom of God. Christ gave an unpopular answer. He said “give up everything you have and follow Me”. Wow, how many of us who claim to be spiritual could do that? Be honest. But sometimes it looks like we are losing in order to gain all that much more and to have the chains broken that hold us locked to material things. Like it or not, it happens every day. I am not saying it will happen to you, but it could – and it would not be due to the devil or bad decision making. The wilderness is a tough one and for everything there is a season – even the things we do not like or the things we would never choose for ourselves.
On the other side of the coin from the homeless people are the seemingly prosperous people. But before you admire and emulate someone or desire what they have, you need to realize you do not know what it cost them. You do not know if they own it, if they will be able to keep it or even how they got it. Recently I was in the upscale part of town in Atlanta and there were a lot of nice cars. My friend looked at a very nice Jaguar parked next to us with admiration and desire.
He said it was expensive and a status symbol of success. But when I explained to him that model Jaguar was over 10 years old and that it could be purchased for about $7,000, he was in shock. Likewise I have a friend with a very nice Escalade, but he is still paying $650 a month on the car note, hardly ever filling up the tank and borrowing $20 from me until payday often. All of which are depreciating as you read this article. Oops I really shouldn’t put him on blast like that but you don’t know his name, lol. Nevertheless, you see my point. YOU ARE MORE VALUABLE THAN MATERIAL THINGS SO YOU SHOULD DEFINE THEM INSTEAD OF LETTING THEM DEFINE YOU! And homeless people are people with value as well.
I have never been homeless but the reality is that it could happen to me – and you. So we both would do well to plan, count our blessings and pray. One wrong decision can change a life. One recession, budget cut or hostile corporate takeover could leave many of us without a job. And the banks FDIC insure your money, but only if the bank completely fails, Other things could happen where you or I could lose everything. I don’t say this to scare you, I say this humbly so you will stay humble about the things you have, own, desire or acquire. That’s true for us both, for us all. Whatever your faith, you must agree Christ remembered the homeless, the poor, the widows and orphans. Are we any better than He just because we drive nice cars, make $100,000 a year, write books and have a college education? No!
I often help with the Hosea Feed The Hungry each year. But in 2013 I decided to attend one event as a homeless person and conduct a little research. I was looked down on by volunteers, spoken to as if I were stupid, herded about like cattle and treated as a suspect by some police officers. I was disappointed but not surprised. And you better believe I collected names. My point is simple, HOMELESS PEOPLE ARE PEOPLE TO. Be careful how you treat the poor because it could very well happen to you. Everybody deserves respect, not because they are respectable per say, but because all of us should be respectful – especially to our own kind. Treat others the way you would want to be treated because the bad news is you reap what you sow – but the good news is you reap what you sow.
Staff Writer; Marque-Anthony