“I see it as two elements, with a clear line between them.” (Did he mean “elephants”?) “There are the people who don’t want to be homeless, and then there are the murderers, alcoholics, and everything.”
What a statement! I’d bet it’s the thought in everyone’s heads, and no one has the nerve to say it. No one except my man George. I say, “And then there’s the third element.” Pause. “There’s the mentally ill. Also, there are those who want to be homeless but are good people. And maybe another element of good people who do want to be homeless because they just don’t know how to cope with the real world.”
“If we start a soup kitchen,” he said, “What kind of people will be drawn to it?”
“Hungry people,” I answered.
We talked about the “element” of people who have lost their jobs, who have lost their homes or their places in mental hospitals, who have become addicted to drugs and can’t fight it. He said, “This is the greatest, wealthiest country in the history of the world….” “and we don’t take care of our people,” I finished.
We agreed that there’s an element of criminals that will be drawn into the walls of our church via the proposed Soup Kitchen, and that could be dangerous.
It a subject that has to be broached. It’s on our minds.
No comments:
Post a Comment