the howl of the wind

punctuated by the shrill sound of the whistling trains that pass by every hour

warning the multiples of homeless people congregating near the track–

the number is growing…

their human condition seems worse than two years ago…

GET OUT OF THE WAY or BE CRUSHED BY PROGRESS!

a barefooted woman, with disheveled hair,

wearing layers of clothing, weaving in and out of traffic

screaming obscenities at the passing cars

CRAZY PEOPLE–WHAT A NUISANCE!

another shirtless man lays sprawled in the green space surrounding the apartment

groaning and then dropping off to another place–

then groaning…

again…

HOW DARE HE REMIND US OF HIS HUMANITY?

a man with a blackened white shirt

filth-looking slacks, a loose tie hanging around his neck

pacing back and forth without hesitation

clearly distraught

MAYBE THAT TIE SHOULD BE TIGHTER!

Another with his several backpacks

shouldered by his bent body

pushing the bicycle back and forth

up and down the hill

with no place to stop and call home

THEY SHOULD ALL BE LOCKED UP

Several homeless, congregating together

speaking their own language,

sharing where they might get a cup of coffee

as long as they sit quiet and listen to the sermon first

WHAT THEY NEED IS MORALS!

the wind continues to howl, the number of displaced HUMANS are increasing among us

while we parade into our Churches on Sunday mornings, saying,

“There but for the Grace of God goes I…”

REALLY?

I didn’t know God’s grace was limited or that only the lucky ones are chosen

Maybe the HOMELESS are here to nudge us out of our coma of superiority

and wake us to compassion?

 

 

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Etymology

SOURCE: https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/

there_but_for_the_grace_of_God_go_I

Allegedly from a mid-sixteenth-century statement by John Bradford, “There but for the grace of God, goes John Bradford”, in reference to a group of prisoners being led to execution.

A paraphrase from the Bible, 1 Corinthians 15:8-10, which states, “Last of all, as to one born abnormally, he appeared to me. For I am the least of the apostles, not fit to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God. But by the grace of God I am what I am…”.