HELP ONE ANOTHER FROM YOUR HEART

Many people in our world today are not so lucky to have all of their most basic human needs met. All you have to do is read the latest report about our homeless and the number of children homeless in our country. According to the excellent hardworking charities that point out that there are many more homeless families and individual men, women and children sleeping rough on our streets than ever before. There are many lost, desperate for work, abandoned, poor, homeless, and don’t know where their next meal will come from. They go through the pain of hunger and thirst every day. What is it about the homeless, the poor, the abandoned, the refugee and the marginalized that makes people so uncomfortable? These are our fellow human beings who have hit on hard times, often through no fault of their own. Loss of a job, the poor economy, or family circumstances can push people and families onto the streets. These people need our support. They also need hope that they may see that their lives are worth living and hope that they will know that their tomorrow will be a better day. That hope comes from the help of others. That hope comes from you and me. When you help someone in need you instill hope in them. You give them the capacity to be grateful and motivated to work towards a better life. You give them life, literally, by giving them food, water, encouragement and the life skills to sustain themselves. And by giving hope to their life, you make your life better. No one deserves the daily suffering of scavenging and living on our streets in our modern era. The solution starts with love, mercy, compassion and empathy, which will move you and me to do something, however small or big it may be. And from your actions, you will model the way for others around you, who will eventually also hopefully do something to help and support those most in need in our county, our country and our world.....

How do you treat your poor?

In a rather depressing story I heard recently; "A rotund, wealthy man walking up a town street comes across three homeless people, each staking out a different street corner. On encountering the first a middle aged man, he yells at him, “Get a job!” The homeless man is, needless to say, a little taken aback. Then the wealthy man rounds the corner and bumps into the second homeless person, this time a woman, to whom he blurts, “Get a grip!” Like the first, the second person is startled by this assault. The wealthy man continues past her up the street and meets the third homeless person who is a young teenager. He saunters over to him, enjoying his sense of power and control, and shouts in his face: “Get a life, you young waster!” With a smug sense of satisfaction, the rich man keeps walking, happy with the advice he’s delivered to these people who contribute “nothing” to society. After walking a few more streets, he turns another corner and runs directly into the three homeless people standing together. Surrounding him, they firmly yet gently remind him to: “Get a heart!”"

Help one another from your Heart

In a country and a world that is hurting at the moment and that seems to be ravaged in some part by evil, the bitter fruits of greed, war, and ignorance are multiplying. I have noticed over my life, that to be a good person or to have a good heart one does not need to depend on religion, status in life, job status, race, skin colour, ethnicity, what country they are from, political views or culture. It solely depends on how each of us treat each other. I have also noticed that our ears are constantly bombarded each day by all sorts of sounds. And these sounds we hear stress a certain kind of hearing whether they are joyful or sad. But for me the hardest is hearing the cry of the poor, and even in that cry of the poor the worst of it is hearing a child’s voice. The cry of those who cannot speak. The cry of those who are alone and have no one with whom to share their loneliness or sadness or homelessness. The cry of those who have no one to help them in this life. The cry of those who have been abandoned or rejected. The cry of those who are so weak and helpless that you can not even contemplate or imagine. The cry of those who are at the bottom of the heap and live under constant oppression. The cry of those who feel they are not worthy to live. It’s the worst sound for it’s the real cry of the poor. The cries of the poor and the homeless does not go away. And although I believe that god is on the side of the poor and the homeless, I somehow feel in our society and culture today, we have found ourselves separated not only from each other, but from the poor, the orphaned, the abandoned and the homeless. We live in a world that insulates us, for the most part, from that which is difficult and uncomfortable. We have diversions that keep us from encountering the pain, the loneliness, the weakness, the fear, the emptiness, the meaninglessness of those around us. We even have diversions to keep us from encountering our own pain, loneliness, weakness, fear, emptiness, and meaninglessness. If we really truly care and love, then we must respond, but we must do so now today, for tomorrow will be too late for a lot of our fellow human beings especially our children. The more separated we are from real love and compassion, the more lifeless we become. There can be no easy fix for narrowing the growing divide between rich and poor in Ireland and in our World. Individuals helping individuals, as important to the receiver and as gratifying to the giver, is not going to solve the massive challenges of poverty, hunger, mental illness, homelessness and addiction. That will require policy reform, political and moral courage, and increased public spending. Raising the minimum wage, investing in job and infrastructure creation, re-balancing the tax burden, and establishing further medical and mental health care, quality education and job training as basic Irish rights rather than privileges will all be required to address the root causes of poverty, homelessness and hunger.

As a final thought, I ask God to bless your hearts and your ears that you may hear the cry of the poor in the midst of your daily life. I ask God to bless your heart and soul that you may act out of the centre of compassion, and know what it is to be human and fully alive. I ask God to bless your heart and soul that you may recognise your own poverty. I ask God to bless your ears that hearing the cry of the poor and becoming poor yourself, you will find out what life is really all about and that the answer to it, is genuine true love and giving and helping others from the goodness of your heart. And I ask God to make you always remember where there is life, there is hope. Do something for someone else to ignite that fire of hope in their lives and in your life.

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=7u0i9xnISXQ