12/21/09 Clothing, bedding, and games, donated to Preble Street Resource CenterToday is Homeless Persons' Memorial Day, organized by the National Coalition for the Homeless. It is designed to call attention to the plight of the homeless and to remember the countless who die on the streets every year.
Why today? It's the winter solstice: "The First Day of Winter. The Longest Night of the Year."
Yesterday, as we were driving home from dinner out, Joanna and I discussed what it would be like to camp overnight in the backyard. I contended that, given fifteen minutes, I could easily grab enough supplies from my camping collection to make the night bearable. I chucked about it and then walked into our toasty home.
Today, Joanna and I walked into the Preble Street Resource Center in Portland and got a little reality check on that conversation. Undoubtedly, many of the people we saw in there had spent last night outside, without my Cascade Designs dome tent or NorthFace sleeping bag.
Downstairs, the line in the soup kitchen stretched the length of the cafeteria. Up in the Adult Day Shelter, I didn't see an empty chair.
The four small bags of donated goods I took in won't go very far in combating the problems these people face. But, for Joanna and I, this little act of visiting and giving to a place which is all about helping others provided us a little perspective on the holidays. If Christmas is about giving, it's good to think who might really need our gifts.
Joanna and I are so fortunate, it's hard for me to even comprehend what a charmed existence we lead. I'm sure I have an easier life than 99.9999% of the people in this world.
And my son, just because of the random fact that he's going to be born with me as his father and Joanna as his mother, will have more advantages than almost any other child on this planet. But, that doesn't make his life, or Joanna's, or mine, any more valuable than everyone else's. Who your parents are or where you are born shouldn't determine whether you sleep in a cozy log home in the woods of Casco or on the broken pavement of Portland.
Despite our circumstances, we all deserve to have joy and dignity in our lives.
Especially at Christmas.
"Charmed" is an expression that comes up in our house often as well...I often find myself commenting to wife that it is an unbelievable miracle that we can walk twenty steps, turn a handle, and clean, drinkable, and even heated water comes pouring out. Not to mention the warm shelter, the nourishing food, the means to pay bills, etc. etc. etc.
ReplyDeleteFor us at least, being ever vigilant about not taking anything for granted certainly is not enough, but it's a start...