Instead

I’ve never been poor.  I was raised by middle-class parents in a middle-class community in a medium-sized Indiana town.  I have parents who are still married, 45 years later.

I never had to worry about my college education.  

I never had to worry about food or shelter.

I never had to worry about whether or not my parents would pick me up from school.

I am lucky.  Others are not born into such good fortune.  

Yes, there are people who cheat the system.  Yes, there are those who pretend to be hurt to continue to receive disability checks.  Yes, there are those who will adopt or foster children to make money.  Yes, some people are lazy.   But there are also people who took a wrong turn.  

Some people just need a little help.   I’m not here to tell you how people should get help; the truth is, government is no substitute for human compassion and kindness.  It’s up to each person to decide how they want to help their fellow man.   Not everyone has the support system needed to get out of a hole.   

Once, I had a conversation with several friends about the depths it must take for someone to become homeless.   One said that she found it hard to believe that not everyone has someone to turn to.  

I believe it.  

Imagine what it would be like to grow up in a poor family, perhaps in a home with physically absent or mentally absent parents.  Perhaps a child grows up with a drug-addicted mother and is too ashamed to make friends and bring them to her house.  Maybe a child is a survivor of abuse and has not learned love or trust.   

It’s not difficult to imagine the leap from hopeless childhood 
to hopeless adulthood.  

Stories exist of those who rose above it.  Will Smith inspired with his portrayal of a young homeless father in The Pursuit of Happyness.  There are those people out there.  And there are many more who could use a hand to get there.  Not everyone on public assistance is lazy and shiftless.

It's easy to look at a panhandler on the street and turn your head.  It's easy to read stories of a mother who has lost her fourth child to violence and say, "This is the life she chooses."  

There are a lot of people out there who could use a hand.  After all, if we’re not on Earth to love and care for each other, where is the joy?

Instead of showing disdain for the homeless, volunteer at a shelter.

Instead of making racist jokes, try to understand.

Instead of generating fear, inspire hope.

Instead of criticizing their way, take another look at yours.

Instead of fighting to deport an immigrant, steer her toward legal citizenship.

Instead of cursing the poor neighborhoods, encourage education there.

Instead of division, work together. 

Instead of negativity, be positive.

Instead of saying something hateful and ugly, find kindness.

Instead of shouting obscenities at a stranger on the highway, wave and smile.  
Instead of complaining about welfare recipients, mentor a struggling mother trying for a better life.

Stand for compassion.  Stand for empathy.

We all can do more to lift others up in the world, and not with money.
With words, with compassion, and with love.



Love,