This morning as I sat here in my comfortable chair, in my cozy apartment, watching the early sunshine play across the leaves of my plant I thought about reality.
Do you remember the movie Reality Bites? Well sometimes reality does bite, but at other times our reality is pretty okay. Most of the time reality is a mixed bag of good and bad.
I think what prompted me to think about reality was my early morning walk today. The sun was rising in a clear sky as I set out, the sound of the cicadas was soothing, and there was a sense of well being in the air.
My reality was good.
When I crossed the street I noticed this plastic bag and pillow, which were apparently left by a homeless person.
It was a stark reminder that not everyone has the same reality that I have. Not everyone has a warm bed in a cozy safe home where they can lay there head at night. I wondered about the reality of this unknown person.
As I walked on I drank in my surroundings. I paused here and there to take a photograph and I called out a hello to a fellow walker as we maintained a safe distance.
It was then that I saw her, lying so still on the grass of the church across from my apartment. My reality once again shifted. Was she okay? Was she just sleeping? I wondered about her reality. Is her reality ever good these days?
There are things that each of us can do to help the homeless. Go here to a link for some ideas.
I hope your reality is a good one today,
Bless you for being sensitive to the needs of the homeless. It's a complicated problem but we could all do more to help.
ReplyDeleteThat is sad, isn't it? Our country is so uneven - so many have so little while others seem to have too much.
ReplyDeleteThis was such a great post Laura to remind us of the reality of life sometimes. When we feel down and upset that Covid has captured our lives and kept us prisoners there are people worse off. I always carry a couple of big zip lock bags with socks, toiletries, instant food items and water bottle and a couple of dollars inside. If I see a homeless person on the side of the road or off the off ramp I hand them out. In the winter I keep a few coats. I am amazed at the amount of people I am seeing now on almost each busy intersection street corner in need of help. In a country as rich as ours it is so sad that so many people have nothing. No home especially makes me sad. You know how we love the sanctuary of our homes. So to think of someone without one really breaks my heart. Makes us really appreciate what we have. xoxo
ReplyDeleteHere in Reno we see a lot of homeless. Unfortunately, most of them are mentally ill. Many of them are drug addicted. It makes one pause and thank God that we are not so unfortunate. I am a senior like you, living on social security. I thank God every day for the blessings I have. I do not judge any of them because who knows what circumstances brought them to this present situation. Many have no where to turn, their families out of desperation have written them off. So sad. We need to remember the homeless in our prayers, God loves them just as much as he loves us.
ReplyDeleteThe plight of our homeless is heartbreaking. I don't see many homeless in my area as we're in the far suburbs of the city. The church I used to belong to and that my mother still does, has a "blessings box" outside the church for the homeless to take bags that are made up for them (non-perishable food, bottled water, socks, etc), so I donate items for that.
ReplyDeleteThis past March when I was in Los Angeles, our Uber driver took us through skid row. It was eye-opening and made me sick to my stomach to see it in person.
Thanks for the link. There is a couple I now see out and about. A homeless couple with a baby in a stroller. My heart goes out to them. I can't imagine the reality of not having walls to keep people and noise out. I just can't. We are indeed fortunate.
ReplyDeleteBrenda
So much of your post brought quite a bit of food for thought. As someone else, our country is very uneven. Sigh!
ReplyDelete