Eric
by Lexie Shaunak on Thursday, October 13, 2011 at 11:13am
Last night I met someone.
His name is Eric.
He's tall, has dreads, and likes to sing.
He held the door for me, and told me I was pretty.
The Police was his favorite band.
He smiled at me and told me God was good to him.
Eric is homeless. Eric is one of the thousands of homeless men and women living on our streets of Memphis.* He was at IHOP, holding the door for people walking in, telling them he would sing a song for them for change. Most people would walk by without a second thought about Eric. Most people would look away, feeling awkward.
Until recently, I probably would have too.
In speaking to Eric, the lines of "College Student" and "Homeless man" were blurred as things like music, humor, and kindness showed how clearly we are the same. We are human. We are people.It is so easy as a lifelong Memphian to turn a blind eye to homelessness. It is so easy to shrug it off and walk away. It isnt your reality. It is an inconvenience. It is scary. It is strange. They arent glamorous. They arent safe. They arent necessarily easy to love.
But neither are we.
We must start seeing the homeless as what they are: People, just like us. We must see them, however unlovable or different, as valuable and in need of love in the same way we do. We must be kind. We must be loving. We must be who we have been called and created to be, rather than the selfish people it is so easy to become. I'm not saying sell everything to give to the poor. Im not saying you should feel guilty for having a home, or be irresponsible with your money. But I am saying that there is a lack of respect and dignity for the least of these in Memphis, and if we believe what we say we believe, we must act on their behalf.
Eric told us that it is so much more than money and stuff. He communicated to us that just being able to talk and laugh and sing with us fed his heart. A lonely heart. A desperate heart. A heart in need of someone to recognize that he is valuable, special, and listened to. The group of us who were headed to eat gave him some money, and one of the guys bought him dinner, but it is so much more than just meeting the physical need. It is meeting the personal, human, and spiritual need of being recognized as a human being.
If you would like to hear his story for yourself, someone did this short film about Eric:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eQ_lLDQXoB8&feature=channel_video_title
Friends, I beg and urge you, please do not turn a blind eye, ear, or heart to the homeless. Please be conscious of them, full of grace, and kindness, and love. No one knows where another person has been, and every persons story is different. But if we can take the first step by recognizing the faces and hearts of homelessness, then we can begin to help those in dire need. If we dont care and consider the person before us as valuable to God and also to us, we are not only missing out on the opportunity to be a blessing to them, but also completely missing what it is to be humans, living this human life together, with love and unity as we are called to.
If you are interested in taking the next step, and not sitting by while people like Eric go unloved, please contact me. There are numerous ways already in motion that we can use your help in. Even if all this moves you to is to think a little differently, please be faithful to do so, and when you are presented the opportunity (and if you live in midtown, or ever go downtown, you will be), let your speech be filled with light and grace. If you have been shown grace, how could you not show it to others? Every person is valuable to God. They should be valuable to us.
Maybe you dont give money. Maybe you give food, or drink, or bus pass. But please, p l e a s e, give your TIME your EARS and your HEART to the desperate in our midst.
* 1,800 estimated from 2009, Memphis Flyer http://www.memphisflyer.com/memphis/no-place-to-call-home/Content?oid=1439613
His name is Eric.
He's tall, has dreads, and likes to sing.
He held the door for me, and told me I was pretty.
The Police was his favorite band.
He smiled at me and told me God was good to him.
Eric is homeless. Eric is one of the thousands of homeless men and women living on our streets of Memphis.* He was at IHOP, holding the door for people walking in, telling them he would sing a song for them for change. Most people would walk by without a second thought about Eric. Most people would look away, feeling awkward.
Until recently, I probably would have too.
In speaking to Eric, the lines of "College Student" and "Homeless man" were blurred as things like music, humor, and kindness showed how clearly we are the same. We are human. We are people.It is so easy as a lifelong Memphian to turn a blind eye to homelessness. It is so easy to shrug it off and walk away. It isnt your reality. It is an inconvenience. It is scary. It is strange. They arent glamorous. They arent safe. They arent necessarily easy to love.
But neither are we.
We must start seeing the homeless as what they are: People, just like us. We must see them, however unlovable or different, as valuable and in need of love in the same way we do. We must be kind. We must be loving. We must be who we have been called and created to be, rather than the selfish people it is so easy to become. I'm not saying sell everything to give to the poor. Im not saying you should feel guilty for having a home, or be irresponsible with your money. But I am saying that there is a lack of respect and dignity for the least of these in Memphis, and if we believe what we say we believe, we must act on their behalf.
Eric told us that it is so much more than money and stuff. He communicated to us that just being able to talk and laugh and sing with us fed his heart. A lonely heart. A desperate heart. A heart in need of someone to recognize that he is valuable, special, and listened to. The group of us who were headed to eat gave him some money, and one of the guys bought him dinner, but it is so much more than just meeting the physical need. It is meeting the personal, human, and spiritual need of being recognized as a human being.
If you would like to hear his story for yourself, someone did this short film about Eric:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eQ_lLDQXoB8&feature=channel_video_title
Friends, I beg and urge you, please do not turn a blind eye, ear, or heart to the homeless. Please be conscious of them, full of grace, and kindness, and love. No one knows where another person has been, and every persons story is different. But if we can take the first step by recognizing the faces and hearts of homelessness, then we can begin to help those in dire need. If we dont care and consider the person before us as valuable to God and also to us, we are not only missing out on the opportunity to be a blessing to them, but also completely missing what it is to be humans, living this human life together, with love and unity as we are called to.
If you are interested in taking the next step, and not sitting by while people like Eric go unloved, please contact me. There are numerous ways already in motion that we can use your help in. Even if all this moves you to is to think a little differently, please be faithful to do so, and when you are presented the opportunity (and if you live in midtown, or ever go downtown, you will be), let your speech be filled with light and grace. If you have been shown grace, how could you not show it to others? Every person is valuable to God. They should be valuable to us.
Maybe you dont give money. Maybe you give food, or drink, or bus pass. But please, p l e a s e, give your TIME your EARS and your HEART to the desperate in our midst.
* 1,800 estimated from 2009, Memphis Flyer http://www.memphisflyer.com/memphis/no-place-to-call-home/Content?oid=1439613
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