I don’t know what you think when you read a story about an immigrant worker, unable to find housing, lives in an encampment not even a few miles from luxurious homes where he works in the Hamptons, or of the single mother with two children living in a car in the town where she cleans the houses of a wealthy town here in New Jersey.
I think we have failed as a society to provide what should be a basic human right: a decent shelter. Several months ago the Times ran a photo essay on how this failure affects people who cannot afford even a studio apartment. The overwhelming majority are citizens, cast aside and considered useless in our money driven society.
More and more we are living in a tale of two countries, one of the haves, the other of the have-nots. Telling someone who doesn’t have an address to “get a job” doesn’t work because homeless persons can’t even get a state ID without an address, and you need an address to get a job. We must end this blight on our Nation.
Prayer for the Day
We know, O God of justice, what is required of us, yet we falter;
We know, O God of mercy, what we need to do, yet we hesitate;
Seeing evil in the world around us, we use helplessness as an excuse,
But you tug at our sleeves and call us to respond.
Move us, O Holy Spirit, beyond the excuses we create:
So we may live faithfully according to your Gospel.
We ask this in the name of the One who calls us to justice and mercy,
Even Christ Jesus our Lord, Amen.
Thoughts for the Day
Sometimes it's easy to walk by because we know we can't change someone's whole life in a single afternoon. But what we fail to realize it that simple kindness can go a long way toward encouraging someone who is stuck in a desolate place.”
Mike Yankoski, writer, speaker, activist
People without homes are not social inadequates. They are people without homes.
Sheila McKechnie, Union organizer (1948-2004)
It is well with those who deal generously and lend, who conduct their affairs with justice.
For the righteous will never be moved; they will be remembered forever.
Their hearts are steady, they will not be afraid;
In the end, they will look in triumph over their foes.
They have distributed freely, they have given to the poor;
Their righteousness endures forever; their horn is exalted in honor.
Psalm 112: 5-9,