So where are the homeless supposed to sleep? Are they supposed to stand wide awake all night? Now that the Supreme Court has ruled that an Oregon City can punish people for being homeless, not having enough money to find a place to sleep, towns and cities, rather than tackling the problem, will simply fine or jail people who have no place to sleep.
Homelessness is just one sign of our society’s division between the haves and the have nots. Those of us who have places to live are not just the beneficiaries of a work ethic, for any one of us could easily fall into such a situation with the loss of a job or illness taxing us beyond our resources.
I suspect, more than trash, what people don’t like about tent encampments is that they are a visible symbol of our unwillingness to tackle many of the causes of homelessness. We can’t just sweep the problem away like dust balls that gather on the stairs.
Prayer for the Day
Called to be compassionate, we often turn aside,
For we do not like what we see, O God;
Enjoined to care for others, we close our eyes,
For we feel pushed beyond our boundaries.
Hold us, O Lord, to your command to share our bounty,
For there are so many who have so little.
In the name of the One who shared with all,
Even Christ Jesus our Lord, Amen.
Thoughts for the Day
Sleep is a biological necessity, not a crime. For some people, sleeping outside is their only option…For people with no access to shelter, that punishes them for being homeless. That is unconscionable and unconstitutional.
Sonia Sotomayor, from dissent in City of Grants Pass v. Johnson
As many as 40%-60% of people experiencing homelessness have a job, but housing is unaffordable because wages have not kept up with rising rents. There is no county or state where a full-time minimum-wage worker can afford a modest apartment.
U.S. Interagency Council on Homelessness
See, the Lord commands, and the great house shall be shattered to bits,
And the little house to pieces.
Do horses run on rocks? Does one plow the sea with oxen?
But you have turned justice into poison, and righteousness into wormwood.
Amos 6: 11-12