A few weeks ago I received an invitation to join a group of individuals at one of the local homeless camp areas. There are camps throughout our community - behind restaurants and strip malls, construction sites and churches. This particular camp was set up directly behind my bank. I have gone to this parking lot often since moving, but failed to notice the foot path leading in to the woods.
My immediate thought is how there are so many folks living in our society, in our cities, in our neighborhoods, who are hidden in plain sight. They are there, yet we don't see them. Why don't we see them? I think it has more to do with us than them. Acknowledging their presence disrupts our comfort. So, instead we look past them, through them, around them. We willful ignore the signs.
Perhaps we do this because we don't know how to help, or what to do. Perhaps we do it because we don't want to be inconvenienced. Perhaps we do it because we've been blind so long we forgot how to see. I don't have the answer.
What I do know is, there are hundreds in my community living in the woods. They are hidden in plain sight. With the exception of a few good-hearted souls, they are forgotten.
Since that visit to the woods, where I played horse shoes and heard stories of unfortunate circumstances, I have been praying one scripture over and over and over again.
Psalm 9:18
For the needy shall not always be forgotten, and the hope of the poor shall not perish forever.
For those that I met in the woods, I pray they are not forgotten by the masses. That a civilized society will remember the less fortunate. I pray hope is alive in their hearts and that one day soon it becomes their reality. This prayer is not just for the homeless, but for all of those who live among us but are hidden in plain sight.
just Sheri, attempting to open my eyes to the unseen
My immediate thought is how there are so many folks living in our society, in our cities, in our neighborhoods, who are hidden in plain sight. They are there, yet we don't see them. Why don't we see them? I think it has more to do with us than them. Acknowledging their presence disrupts our comfort. So, instead we look past them, through them, around them. We willful ignore the signs.
Perhaps we do this because we don't know how to help, or what to do. Perhaps we do it because we don't want to be inconvenienced. Perhaps we do it because we've been blind so long we forgot how to see. I don't have the answer.
What I do know is, there are hundreds in my community living in the woods. They are hidden in plain sight. With the exception of a few good-hearted souls, they are forgotten.
Since that visit to the woods, where I played horse shoes and heard stories of unfortunate circumstances, I have been praying one scripture over and over and over again.
Psalm 9:18
For the needy shall not always be forgotten, and the hope of the poor shall not perish forever.
For those that I met in the woods, I pray they are not forgotten by the masses. That a civilized society will remember the less fortunate. I pray hope is alive in their hearts and that one day soon it becomes their reality. This prayer is not just for the homeless, but for all of those who live among us but are hidden in plain sight.
just Sheri, attempting to open my eyes to the unseen
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