A couple of things were ironic on this tour. One was a giant archway sign we passed under as we were driving from one homeless encampment to another. It said, "Fesno, the Best Little City in the U.S.A." As we drove through the archway, we saw run down factory buildings and trash littered about. It was not a kind part of town.
Another irony was the big, white, highly conspicuous bus in which the forty of us rode around. My housemate commented that it seemed like we were on safari.
All in all, it was a good, an emotional experience for me. It raised questions of responsibility, justice and helping those who don't want to be helped.
Let me work backwards in explaining my position on each of those things. I do not see homelessness as the greatest of all evils. If a person wants to be homeless, I have no problem with that. I do not see the good in yanking someone out of a choice they have made. I know many Christians would disagree with me, but I see the yanking desire as arrogance. But when homelessness becomes bondage - sometimes because it is paired with addiction or mental illness - then of course it is an evil. And as I saw today, there is some help in Fresno for people in those situations.
Justice. Even when we, the Church, are able to pull someone off the streets, what are they facing? What led them to the streets to begin with? What slum lords? What unemployment? Alan Doswald (president, ESA/Love INC) said today, "We see people drowning and we want to save them. But we have to ask, who's upstream throwing them in?"
It's questions like this that I have been asking myself for a couple of years now. But it's also questions like this that have blocked out the factor of an individual's responsibility. In reality, both are at play: the systems of oppression and a person's choices affect his or her position in life. (Everpresent, too, is the grace of God.) But where I struggle is in not wanting to let personal accountablity become blame and blame become judgement and judgement become hardness of heart. I pose the question, how do you promote individual responsibility in love?
All in all, it was a good, an emotional experience for me. It raised questions of responsibility, justice and helping those who don't want to be helped.
Let me work backwards in explaining my position on each of those things. I do not see homelessness as the greatest of all evils. If a person wants to be homeless, I have no problem with that. I do not see the good in yanking someone out of a choice they have made. I know many Christians would disagree with me, but I see the yanking desire as arrogance. But when homelessness becomes bondage - sometimes because it is paired with addiction or mental illness - then of course it is an evil. And as I saw today, there is some help in Fresno for people in those situations.
Justice. Even when we, the Church, are able to pull someone off the streets, what are they facing? What led them to the streets to begin with? What slum lords? What unemployment? Alan Doswald (president, ESA/Love INC) said today, "We see people drowning and we want to save them. But we have to ask, who's upstream throwing them in?"
It's questions like this that I have been asking myself for a couple of years now. But it's also questions like this that have blocked out the factor of an individual's responsibility. In reality, both are at play: the systems of oppression and a person's choices affect his or her position in life. (Everpresent, too, is the grace of God.) But where I struggle is in not wanting to let personal accountablity become blame and blame become judgement and judgement become hardness of heart. I pose the question, how do you promote individual responsibility in love?
1 comment:
Such an interesting perspective - and let me add a thought or two - Jesus asks us to not cling to the things of this world and he did not have a home of his own - with these things in mind, one could clearly argue in favor of the homeless. There would seem to be a certain flavor of anti-establishment flavor to it, going against the grain, refusing to be boxed into the norm. But then again, the truth is, most homeless people are mentally exhausted and suffering from some sort of trauma that is untreated due to an over stuff system, lack of family and their anti-social behaviors have separated them from societal things that we take for granted on a daily basis. It's a growing problem (especially with the sinking economy, returning soldiers and families in crisis)
Your compassion is contagious and my prayer for you is that Christ will continue to direct you toward your appropriate challenge to best use your talents. You have alot of them. You also write very well.
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