it might seem dark. it might seem sad. that's because it's about something that is sad. being homeless is a sad situation and it can take you to a dark place. but right after the tweets i mentioned above i received another one from a lady that said i seemed positive and upbeat. i'm paraphrasing. so i started thinking....which in itself can be confusing for me. i told this lady i was one of the lucky ones. and i am. i am homeless. i am in no way advocating, glorifying, or trying to make being homeless anything other than what it is. however...i am lucky. i wake up in the morning and i'm very aware that i'm homeless. but i wake up with a roof over my head. it's not my roof mind you. but it is a roof...supplied by the grace of god thru some people that provided that roof with the goodness of their heart. i did not sleep outside the night before. i didn't have to worry about freezing to death when i lay down and closed my eyes. i did not have to worry about whether someone would come along and hit me, hurt me or possibly kill me while i slept. i did not have to worry about being robbed in the middle of the night. i'm lucky,
i walked a short distance to the coffee house run by the friendship house organization. we call it .....nobucks cafe. i thought that was funny when i first heard it. i guess you had to be there....i hope you never are. i had coffee...in a warm room...with 75 other people talking about different subjects. i'm lucky. when i left there i went to the resource center to check on twitter to see how the world was doing this morning. then i checked on my email. i have a job interview next week....one that i was hoping to get. i'm lucky. when i left there i had lunch....probably a better one than you did. this was courtesy of a very gracious and caring man named m\ark. he, for some reason has made it his life's purpose to feed the homeless. i'm lucky. i walked back to where i sleep at nite. i had a warm shower...alone. i had some coffee because it's very cold outside tonight. i had dinner tonite. i'm not going to tell you what i had because you might look at me sideways and wonder if i'm really homeless. but it was good. it was brought by a very special group of people from a church, out of the goodness of their heart. for no other reason....the goodness of their heart. from their house to ours...with peace and love. i'm lucky. i'll go to bed tonite....with a roof over my head. before i do i'll check in with one or two friends to make sure they're safe. i'll sleep under warm covers with god guiding me thru the nite until morning. i'm lucky.
one of these mornings i'll wake up and i'll open my email or check my voice mail and there it will be. i'm hired...please call me or come by the office. my circle will almost be complete. i'm lucky. i've managed to deal with this dark moment with some sort of dignity and patience. i'm learned from it. i've learned compassion and understanding. i've learned how to be humble and gracious and not proud and arrogant. i've learned how more to see two sides of a situation. i've learned how to listen....especially to god and myself. i've learned not to be judgemental. but more important than any of that...i've learned that there is still goodness and kindness in the world. i've learned that there are people who do acts of kindness and expect nothing in return. i've learned that america is not lost because of these people.
and for the record...i did all this today without any help from the government and the money that some people say they do not want to waste on homeless and poor people.
i'm lucky. so are you. you are an american.
see you around town
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