EYES---by Ken Loyd

Why do some “normals” (people with jobs who live indoors) get acceptance more quickly downtown among our friends than others?

One possible reason can be found in our eyes. Window of the soul and all that.

Our friends search our eyes to see if we are safe. They must. Their survival depends on it.

Check this out. They can see in, but, better than that, we can consciously project outward from real places in our souls. We can project love, acceptance, delight, and the desire to know and connect right onto the screens of their hearts. Child-like wonder doesn’t hurt at all, either.

Cool, huh?

PS Jim Henderson would call this ” being intentional.”

FOR JUST ONE MOMENT WITH YOU!

The day you entered my life, I was filled with excitement, yet fear all at the same time.

Filled with joy over this new guy in my life, but fear of not being good enough for him.

Could I be there for him in all his needs?
Could I help make all his dreams come true?
Could I love him with everything I had?

Then you left. No notice, no warning, in a blink of an eye you were no longer here. My world came to a crashing halt and shattered before my eyes. A part of my heart where I held you so close, broke and now is left with emptiness, pain and grief.

I sit here ten years later and think if I could just have one more moment with you.

I would give my legs to have one more moment to walk with you!

I would give up speaking if I could just for one moment tell you how much I love you!

I would give up my eyes to see your face for just one moment!

I would give up my arms to hold you for just one moment!

I would give up my life and all I have to spend just one more moment with you and have you say the one word I long to hear again…….”MOM!”

I love you my dear son!

Franklin
Feb. 18, 1982-Nov. 10, 1999

Don’t ever forget to tell those you love, how much you really do LOVE THEM!

Homeless Sue

Recent article from the Idaho Statesman:

Homeless Boiseans sue over public camping ban

The suit says enforcing the rule amounts to cruel and unusual punishment in a city where shelters are overflowing.

BY REBECCA BOONE - The Associated Press
Published: 11/09/09

The lawsuit, filed last month in federal court by seven residents, echoes similar cases popping up around the nation, all targeting rules that advocates say amount to the criminalization of homelessness.

On any given night, the suit contends, between 2,000 and 4,500 people are homeless in Idaho's capital city, and only about 700 of them will be able to get a bed or a mat on the floor in one of the area's shelters. The others have no choice but to violate city ordinances against camping or sleeping in public, the filing states.

"Boise police officers routinely issue camping citations to homeless residents for sleeping, sitting, or talking with friends in public places - activities non-homeless residents have the freedom to engage in without fear of police interference," the group writes in the lawsuit, filed in the names of Janet F. Bell, Brian S. Carson, Craig Fox, Robert Martin, Lawrence Lee Smith, Robert Anderson and Pamela S. Hawkins.

Boise City Attorney Scott Muir said he couldn't comment on pending litigation.

But Tulin Ozdegre, an attorney with the National Center on Homelessness and Poverty who is representing the Boise homeless residents in the lawsuit, said the poor economy and high foreclosure rate mean the ranks of the homeless will continue to grow.

"Many communities around the country are seeing a dramatic rise in the number of homeless people, and most cities don't have the resources to meet the need," she said. "Currently we're involved in a couple other lawsuits as well. In St. Petersburg, Fla., we're challenging a number of laws and practices there targeting homeless people. And we have another lawsuit in the city of Dallas with a different twist, over a law that restricts groups from sharing food with homeless people in public spaces."

Cities nationwide are dealing with similar issues. Honolulu began enforcing an overnight camping ban at a local park a year ago, but in October the City Council shelved a measure that would have made it illegal to sleep on the sidewalk after some members questioned how it would affect the homeless.

Homeless advocates sued the city of Portland last year over an anti-camping ordinance, a case that is now in settlement negotiations. In October, the California city of Laguna Beach created a sleeping area for the homeless in response to a lawsuit that claimed the city was harassing disabled homeless residents. The ACLU sued Santa Barbara, Calif., in March, contending that an ordinance banning nighttime sleeping on public property unfairly criminalized the homeless.

On Tuesday, Boise City Council members are expected to hear on third reading a measure that would clarify the word "camping" to mean the use of public property as a sojourn or a place of residence anytime between sunset and sunrise. The change also states that storing personal belongings, cooking or making a fire in an unauthorized area also indicates that someone is camping.

The plaintiffs in the case don't have addresses or phone numbers and couldn't be immediately reached. But they detailed their circumstances in the lawsuit.

Martin, who is mentally ill, has a physical disability and has been homeless on and off for 11 years - since he was 18 - has been cited twice this year for sleeping near local shelters, according to the lawsuit. Martin contends he can't walk far because of his disability, which means he can't hike out of town to sleep and then back in to get to a soup kitchen where he can shower, clean his clothes and eat. Smith lived in his camper van until it was stolen, and now often sleeps along the Boise River, according to the lawsuit. After getting two camping citations in 2007, Smith says he served 100 days in jail. He also lost his tent, stove and fishing equipment after the arrest, he said, making it harder to survive without shelter.

The homeless residents are asking the court to order the city to expunge their records of any homeless person wrongly ticketed, to pay damages and to declare that the city's actions violated constitutional rights of homeless residents.

Finding God Again!

I wrote a blog a long time ago called “Finding God in the small things” or something to that sort. I told about how when I started going to the park that the Lord would show me or reveal himself to me in the small things. He would direct my attention to someone and show me how He sees them. Someone who you just could not reach, you would pray for time and time again and one day He would breakdown the walls of their heart and they would just open up. He showed me the special love He has for each and every one of his children and most of all the deep unconditional love He has. There are thousands of things I learned about the heart and love of the Father there in the park.

Today after the park, one of the guys asked if I would give him a ride back to the halfway house where he was staying. Hippie dude (my nickname for him) has been one of those that I have known since the first time going to the park. The first six months of knowing him, well I can’t say I knew him; he actually wouldn’t give me the time of day to tell you the truth. Those first few months I would respect his boundaries, offer him something to eat and let God deal with the rest. One day as I was leaving I heard someone yell “Hey sister”, I turned to see who had yelled and it was Hippie dude. I thought okay here we go. I have been yelled at, cussed out and many other things those first months in the park and here I thought I was going to get it again. The Lord taught me well in this area. My first instinct when this happened would be to fight back. Thank you Lord for speaking to me before I would open my mouth. He would very gently speak to my heart and would say, “They have been hurt and are still hurting. They don’t want to be hurt anymore, so they try and push you away. If they let you in, they are afraid you will hurt them more. So, just love them period.” So like I said I was ready for what every Hippie dude was going to dish out and I would react in way I always did, stand there smile, let them vent on me and as I would leave I would just say “I still love you.” The look on their face was always priceless. That day though Hippie dud just very calmly looked at me and said “I love you.” God was opening up a heart. Things happen slowly in the park and little things like that may not seem like much to some, but to me that is a beautiful move of God.

So we flash forward a year and a half and people are comfortable with us now. They open up more freely and they let the walls down much quicker. They feel safe and they feel loved. Today Hippie dude loaded up his bike and we headed down the street to his place. He turned to me and said “Hey sister, are you like religious?” I told him that I think that being religious and having faith are to different things. That anyone can be religious, but I had a deep faith. I told him I was a Christian and that my faith and love for Christ was very special to me. “Oh” was the response I got from him. Then he turns again and says “you guys are different and not now, but can we talk about it one day?” “Anytime you want to my friend, anytime” was my response. God was working all this time in my friend’s heart and I missed it. We had gone from complete rejection to trust, to acceptance, “I love you” and friendship, but God didn’t stop there.

I started looking for God in the big things, not seeing or hearing Him as often, then I found Him again still working on the small things, where He does His biggest work…in the Heart! May I continue to see the transformation that the love of God can do in someone’s heart and life, no matter how long it takes. May I never stop seeing or hearing Him in all the small things. It’s the small things that I long for! It’s the matters of the heart that I want to stay focused on, everything else God will take care of!

Spiritual Transformation Journey Begins with .....

Story worth reading:

Spiritual Transformation Journey Begins with Feeding the Homeless
http://www.constructionrisk.com/spiritual.htm

Tokenism…a few practical suggestions

A recent post by Ken that I thought was worth reposting. You can find Ken at:http://kenloyd.net/

KEN LOYD’S BLOG
Tokenism…a few practical suggestions
We’re good people. We do actually care.

If there was a Satan, this is what I think he’d do to good, caring people: he would blind us to the very real horrors going on all around us. How? He’d encourage us to make a token gesture, let the pee sit in the bowl, do something nice at Christmas for the “poor”, be slightly less oppressive to women than the next person, Facebook our outrage at child prostitution. Something like that. He’d then give us a squirt of endorphins to warm us all over and whisper quietly in our ear, “Good job!, Sally (Bill, Fred, Sharon).”

There actually is a Satan, I believe, and that’s exactly what he does to good, caring people. Especially good, caring American people. Most especially good, caring Christian American people. How else can we explain little or no visible action coming from our nation and churches in an age when the enormity of human suffering is splattered all over the news on a daily basis?

Here are some mental errors most of us, I think, make in the thought-to-emotion-to-action transition:

American? We have been taught to believe that those who have less, are less. In the church world, prosperity equals blessing for a good life lived.
Young American? In your, “I’m-here-what’s-going-on-there?-texting-four-people-while-having-coffee-with-a-fifth-Google-everything-wired-to-the-hilt world, it’s easy to care about everything so much that actually doing anything gets lost in the melee.
Emergent Christian? Lots of palaver, not much do. Trap.
Theological bent? See above.
We easily confuse reading and knowing with doing. They are not remotely the same. To bend James’ words a bit, “Reading without doing is dead.” (sorry, Jimmie)
Have enough money? Live indoors? Have a Job? Vehicle? Stuff? It’s called insulation! We (especially Christians) need to get out more. Uninsulated.
We can easily let the talking heads (teachers, professors, preachers, newspeople, etc.) think and do on our behalf.
Low self esteem a la: “I’m too small (shy, uneducated, old, young, unhip, your limit here _________) to make a difference.”
With so many kinds of injustice in the world, which one to choose?
Catch the drift?
Good, caring people paralyzed by our own brains.

Some suggestions to help us get off the dime (to coin an old phrase):

Read/study/ask questions of actual doers. Learn about injustice of all kinds.
Set a time limit for your study phase. Remember: Reading is not doing. Knowing is not doing. Only doing is doing.
Ask, “What’s my heart (God?) telling me?” What moved you most? What excited most you? What grieved you most?
Get involved with that. If something moves you to action, you may well stick. If you’re just going along with someone else, it’s difficult to pay attention for long.
What are you good at? Do that for a caring/justice cause.
What do you enjoy doing? Do that for a caring/justice cause.
Consider that small might just be the new big. (less insulation)
Consider that local might just be the new mission field. (less insulation)
Get in touch with your own brokenness. It will connect you with the rest of humanity. (less insulation)
You want endorphins? Then get started!
Love,

Ken

A MOTHER'S THANKS TO THOSE UNKNOWN

During our lifetime we have moments where we think, if I could just do this one big thing or if I had lots of money I could do and help a lot of people. It’s in between those moments that we sometimes forget about the little things that make the most impact in the lives of others. In the moments where there are no others around, no fan fair, no big production, just a small act of kindness that can make a change in someone's life.

Below you will find a blog written by a wonderful person I met online. She writes about the kindness of strangers and the impact it had on her beautiful son. You can find more of her blogs at: http://brokenheartedmom.blogspot.com/

4/6/08

Thank You

Some believe there are angels among us. I never really gave it any thought B.H. (before heroin). But my son is alive today through the immeasurable kindness of strangers. The people who gave him a dollar, a sandwich, a smile, or a hand up are many. I will never be able to express my gratitude to the good people along the way to rock bottom who tried to break the fall. I'm especially grateful to the ones who did not judge.


My son has told me of kind strangers who saw a terribly troubled soul and reached out. I would like to acknowledge a few who easily could have averted their eyes, and walked on.


Thank you stranger in Michigan, for calling that ambulance.


Thank you Arizona State Trooper who bought my son a Big Mac, got my phone number from him, drove him to a treatment facility, and then called me to tell me where my boy was.


Thank you lovely woman in Riverside, California who let a dirty, stoned boy use her cell phone to call home, and then gave him $5.


Thanks to the man in Utah who bought himself a coffee and donut, saw my son, and without a word handed it to him.


And to the special stranger in downtown Detroit: You saw my son walking down the cold, winter street. It was 16 degrees, -3 windchill; he had no hat, gloves, decent shoes, nothing but cotton pants and a sweatshirt. You pulled your car along side him, and got out. Andrew was confused, and wary, expecting you to taunt or hurt him. You took off your coat, held it out to him. "You need this more than I do, brother," you said. Then you got in your car and drove away.

Be you angels or mortals..you have taught me I must pass it on.