Day 4: Walking in the shoes of the homeless and unemployed

Humbling. I returned to the dorm and stood at the sink to get some water. One of my roommates said, “They brought up a box of pastry.”

I opened the cardboard cake box and my eyes widened with excitement at the sight of biscotti, blueberry muffins, and… uh… what was that? A roach? A roach!

“Eew, there’s a roach in there!” I exclaimed with an expected amount of distaste. Only, I wanted to swallow my words a few moments later. M y roommate did not even flinch, did not acknowledge the disgust in my words. Instead, she took another deliberate bite of her blueberry muffin, chewed slowly and thoroughly, and swallowed. In that moment, I felt so uppity, so insensitive, so stuck on myself. Food was there alongside hungry people. The food filled a need. They ate it.

I quickly isolated myself in the small lounge area on the other side of the dorm. Dear God I whispered in disbelief as reality smacked me across the face. Does it really come down to this? I thought. Is this my future reality—reaching a point where survival and the fulfillment of basic needs trumps discretionary practices and vanities? Man, I hope not. I feel sad that others have been forced to renounce that luxury out of pure necessity. We don’t know how good we have it.

Opportunity to Celebrate

Obviously, we should all celebrate the roof over our heads and the nourishment we receive no matter how it is viewed by economic or social standards. Yet, how can you "celebrate" blessings if you are homeless, hungry, unemployed, and cannot provide for your family? How, as a citizen or community leader, have you honored the value in all individuals regardless of their economic status or living situation? I celebrate by giving praise to God for providing for my needs and then share that praise with others as I do with this blog.

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