Who are those who plead: Don't abandon me

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reen12

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Who are those, in a prosperous nation, who are cast out to “die on the streets?”
Sleeping on subway grates, or collapsed on stone benches.

Who are those who are cast off, in families? The mentally ill,
and/or the one addicted to drugs or alcohol?
How many people do “church work,” yet abandon one of their
own family, leaving him/her derelict of love and support?

“Derelict” comes from the Latin, derelinquere - to abandon.
And Jesus said to all, in all times “Follow Me.”
“Love one another as I have loved you.”
Jesus did not leave Peter derelict.He pulled him out of the waters.

oneyearbibleimages.com/jesus_rescues_peter.jpg

reen12
 
On the norm, are they cast out or do they cast themselves out when they fall into the lure of drugs, alcoholism, run-away from the authority of their parents, etc…

I know there are exceptions, so I’m basically covering what I feel are the largest group of “out-casts”.
 
quote: NotWorthy
On the norm, are they cast out or do they cast themselves out when they fall into the lure of drugs, alcoholism, run-away from the authority of their parents, etc…

I know there are exceptions, so I’m basically covering what I feel are the largest group of “out-casts”.
Click to expand...
By that definition, NotWorthy, I think that you have described some of those
whom Jesus went out of His way, to reach out to.

"Some scribes who were Pharisees saw that he was eating with sinners and tax collectors and said to His disciples:
“Why does He eat with tax collectors and sinners?”

Jesus heard this and said to them: “Those who are well do not need a physician - but the sick do. I did not come to call the righteous but sinners.”

Whenever I see a convocation of bishops, seated in a
large hall, I think to myself that Jesus would likely be found
out in the alleyway, behind the hotel, where those who
were bin diving might be found. Does Jesus think:
“Your fault, society’s fault, nobody’s ‘fault’ - are you OK?” http://bestsmileys.com/nono/9.gif

reens
 
NotWorthy said:
are they cast out or do they cast themselves out when they fall into the lure of drugs, alcoholism, run-away from the authority of their parents, etc…
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I agree.

But what if we are seen no differently by God when our
requests to Him are for our own immediate help rather
than for the good of all?
 
Often wrong choices at some point in life can lead somebody on a way he or she could not foresee.
Blaming them is not the answer.

I see homeless people and their faith can be amazing.

Their humility can be amazing.

It feels good to make somebody who feels down and out feel better. And even if it is just with a smile.

It feels so good to give a homeless person a dry pair of socks on a rainy day.

So they may feel NOT abandoned.
 
quote: Kathrin
It feels so good to give a homeless person a dry pair of socks on a rainy day.

So they may feel NOT abandoned.
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I surely agree, Kathrin.
My feet were cold and you did not judge me.
You gave to me a pair of socks so I wouldn’t
feel so bad.

Come, ye blessed of My Kingdom.
My feet were cold and you gave Me something
to warm My feet.

A person who works at a rescue mission told me
that socks were always needed. And when I thought
about that, it made sense. We may give clothing,
but I doubt that many donate socks.

And I thought, too, how desolate it must make
one feel, to wear shoes on bare feet, especially
in a northern winter. “They pierced His…feet”
  • as the cold and the near-freezing slush of winter
    must pierce the feet of one who has no socks.
There is a dollar store, in an adjacent city.
Two years in a row, they carried sweaters in the autumn.
For a twenty dollar bill, one could buy 18 sweaters,
and pay the sales tax.

I’m thinking of forming a “God Squad,” whose
primary activity would be to fan out, in the
marketplace, to find the best buys on socks,
and thus warm hearts and feet, while being
good stewards of the funds available.

From what I understand, the new homeless are
mothers with children.

As to whose “fault” it is - that one’s feet are near freezing -
the Good Samaritan, as described by Jesus, bound up the man’s wounds,
while saving the lecture - about the lack of prudence displayed, in traveling alone - 'til later.
It didn’t seem important, at that moment.

And the thing that gets me about this parable, is that
Jesus chose to cast, as the good heart, a despised Samaritan,
who didn’t belong to the “true faith.”
Christ’s hearers were, no doubt, not pleased.
The Samaritan was one of them.
‘Them’ = _________ [fill in the blank.] 😦

reen12
 
I think that often when I see somebody wearing shoes with no socks… I have offered people MY socks before, especially if I had an extra pair in my backpack.

Or even mismatched socks that just lie around in the backs of closets… I’d say out with them and let somebody get warm feet!
👍
 
I can think of special group… the elderly. Please don’t cast them off, dear ones. Do you have an elderly parent or grandparent sitting alone in a nursing home? Please go visit them… today… or better yet, take them out of that awful place for a little while. Show them, you care. Thanks for making us think, reens. :hug1: God bless.
 
NotWorthy said:
On the norm, are they cast out or do they cast themselves out when they fall into the lure of drugs, alcoholism, run-away from the authority of their parents, etc…

I know there are exceptions, so I’m basically covering what I feel are the largest group of “out-casts”.
Click to expand...
It’s funny, I was more worried in this post about what I was NOT trying to say (and being misunderstood) then what I was trying to say (and not being clear enough).

My comments were more geared toward the fact that these people are in the shape they are in not so much because they’ve “been abandoned”. More often than not, these people are in the shape they are in because they have abandoned society.
 
quote: Kathrin
I think that often when I see somebody wearing shoes with no socks… I have offered people MY socks before, especially if I had an extra pair in my backpack.
Click to expand...
That’s even better!

I have to say that, at my age, if I tried to lean down to take off my socks,
I’d probably fall on my nose - wrenching my back. . http://bestsmileys.com/nono/9.gif

reen12
 
quote: NotWorthy
It’s funny, I was more worried in this post about what I was NOT trying to say (and being misunderstood) then what I was trying to say (and not being clear enough).

My comments were more geared toward the fact that these people are in the shape they are in not so much because they’ve “been abandoned”. More often than not, these people are in the shape they are in because they have abandoned society.
Click to expand...
I did understand the point that you were making.

It helps no one, to “enable” dysfunctional behavior.

Yet many are severely ill, and their treatment has nothing to
do with “enabling.”

What gets me, NotWorthy, is that all of these state mental wards
were closed down, in the name of “sensitivity and understanding.”
At least, on a back ward, one received medication and something
to eat. There are those who are so ill, that they can’t even
get organized enough to seek new settings.

And where are these “new settings” that were promised?

The whole thing makes me sick.

reen12
 
quote: MarieVeronica
Do you have an elderly parent or grandparent sitting alone in a nursing home? Please go visit them… today… or better yet, take them out of that awful place for a little while. Show them, you care.
Click to expand...
Mom is in a nursing home, with severe osteoporosis and
advanced Altzheimers. When she was first in the nursing home,
I used to manage to maneurver her into the front seat of my car,
from her wheelchair.
Then we would go “visiting” two or three people who love her dearly.
Each would come out and sit in the car - or lean on the
door, talking with Mom. Then we would stop for some
hamburgers and fries, and head for our house, where I’d
pull around back, near an apple tree, and would then
bring out trays with coffee and plates, so we could have
a “picnic” in the back yard. My husband would join us,
and he was dear enough to have the coffee all made, and
the trays ready to go.
It was our visiting mobile, and Mom could look out the
window and see the clouds and the squirrels and see
the flowers. She so enjoyed that.
Please pray for my mother, for she is very ill now.

reen12
 
Things people on the street appreciate:
Socks
duct tape to fix clothes
bags
bus tokens
hand lotion
fresh veggies (a cucumber or tomato you thought no one would want)
gloves
a place to sit down for half an hour and breathe
a phone card
cold medicine
vitamins
toothbrushes
high-protein food, such as a foil pack of tuna
first-aid supplies
 
quote: strngrnrth
Things people on the street appreciate:
Socks
duct tape to fix clothes
bags
bus tokens
hand lotion
fresh veggies (a cucumber or tomato you thought no one would want)
gloves
a place to sit down for half an hour and breathe
a phone card
cold medicine
vitamins
toothbrushes
high-protein food, such as a foil pack of tuna
first-aid supplies
Click to expand...
A blessing to know this, strngrnrth. Thank you for posting this.
I didn’t even know that tuna came in a foil pack. I wonder about
a pair of sunglasses. I bought mine from a dollar store, and
they work well. And the dollar stores sell closeup glasses.
Older people on the street might need a pair. It is all of those
things that I take for granted that are hard to bring to mind.
Your list is practical. Thank you, strngrnrth.

reen12
 
NotWorthy said:
that these people are in the shape they are in not so much because they’ve “been abandoned”. More often than not, these people are in the shape they are in because they have abandoned society.
Click to expand...
Or maybe, in some way, abandoned themselves? 😦
 
quote: Kathrin
Or maybe, in some way, abandoned themselves? 😦
Click to expand...
Exactly. I often wonder “'What has been done to you - how
were you treated, that you would arrive here?”

reen12
 
I don’t know that the idea that many (most?) “chose” to abandon themselves, or abandon society, is at all accurate or fair. Even those who may be addicts of one sort or another.

As Reen notes, what brought them to that point to begin with? Most people experiment with drugs and alcohol to fill a void and an emptiness in their life. There is a hole in their heart that already exists, or an unbearable burden that they are seeking to escape such as abuse or an existing abandonment. Yes, they make choices, but usually they are choices that are the product of an abandonment of some type rather than abandonment being their choice.

And what of the mentally ill that make up so much of the homeless population? Was that also chosen?

But the other side of the coin is that this abandonment doesn’t just take the form of ignoring the homeless. It takes the form of abandoning those in need in general. The elderly, the poor, the sick…those who had the “misfortune” to be born into a society at war or being persecuted.

It’s not unexpected though. We’re inundated on a daily basis with the horrors existing in the world, from Darful to the Iraq war, from the starving children around the world to homeless people being beaten to death for “sport”. We become numb because we’re overwhelmed and can’t figure out how we can make a difference. But also because we come from a society where “watching out for number one” is the rule of the day, and where we tend to blame the victim for their plight rather than recognizing that we mostly at least tacitly approve of the structures and systems that have brought them to the despair they are in. This is the “structural” or “coporate” sin that John Paul II often spoke of, the sin of omission in which we support systems because they benefit US without worrying how they might negatively impact others–the “THEM” that Reen mentioned, who is anyone who isn’t US.

“Love your neighbor as yourself.” We’ve all heard it so many times that it becomes easy to just say it without thinking about what it really means. To want for the “other” what we desire for ourselves. But more than that, to DO SOMETHING that that might happen, just as we would do for ourselves. Christian charity isn’t praying for someone else to take care of the abandoned; it is taking food to the abandoned, or socks or sunglasses. It is sitting down with them, giving of our time, that they might know that we recognize that they have the same inherent dignity before God that we do.

Or do we actually recognize that?
 
The sick who have no care…
The mentally ill who feel terrified by fear, or despair
The depressed and those hwo have given up hope…

One of the most beautiful things is bringing hope to the hopeless.🙂 🙂 🙂
 
I don’t remember who here has the free-rice site in her/his sig, but it’s a good idea. Does anyone know of any other charity games?
 
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