We are called to respect others the way we would like to be treated. Otherwise, when we fail to respect others, we are telling them that they are not worthy of respect. In time, they come to disrespect themselves, as they slip into a downward spiral in which they get used to abusing themselves. We can think that we have no responsibility for others' actions, but when we fail to build up people, we choose not to lift them up, we keep them down, and we push them even further down.
Often I think about the people who sift through the garbage and recyclables in the dumpsters in the parking lot outside my window. They usually sort through it around 5:00 a.m. I've imagined that they come at that time because they want to get what they can out of it before the garbage truck comes around 5:30 a.m. to empty the dumpsters.
I've imagined talking with them when they are going through the garbage and the recyclables. I've envisioned saying something to them like, "I'm not going to try to stop you from going through the garbage. You can do so. I'm not disturbed by the sound. I am deeply saddened that human beings care for each other so little that some people are reduced to rifling through garbage. I believe you were meant to be treated with more dignity. We are supposed to treat you with more respect."
Homeless folks have told me and shown me that they collect recyclables to exchange for money. Earlier this week, I asked a homeless woman, who I'll call "Kelly" here, what she was going to buy with the money she was going to get from the recyclables she had. She told me she was going to buy cigarettes.
In addition to nicotine, homeless folks also fall prey to illicit drugs. Kelly has confessed to me that she has taken methamphetamines. Meth is inexpensive, so homeless folks can get it.
Although meth doesn't cost much money, homeless folks pay a high price for it. In using it, people become less than they were meant to be.
When we do not acknowledge the presence of a homeless person, we treat them as less than they actually are. By acting as if homeless people do not exist, we rip them down just like an illicit drug tears them down.
In addition to meth tearing people down, people use it in the first place since they are down. Kelly has identified her low self-esteem as the root of her problems. She admitted to me that she does things which she thinks will make her feel better, but which don't help. She has acknowledged too that she tries to numb herself to prevent herself from feeling what she doesn't want to feel. Kelly does not want to feel the disrespect that has been shown to her. She would rather turn aside from the pain inflicted on her.
We cannot justify ignoring and casting aside those who are homeless or otherwise poor. We cannot in good conscience tell them that they must accept their lot, for in doing so we reject our duty to love them.
In loving homeless persons and showing them respect, we build them up. We help them become more than they have been. By treating homeless persons with dignity, we help them to rise above the suffering they have endured. If any of us refuse to help our neighbor, whether homeless or not, we are ignoring the lessons of love presented to us.
If any of us, whether we are homeless or rich, only try to escape from pain, and never embrace suffering, we are refusing to learn from what life presents to us. Through life's hardships, God seeks to mold us, just as He does by way of life's blessings.
God asks that we agree to become who He created us to be. We are called to become who God made us to be.
We find out who we are as we endure life's challenges. If we reject what we have to learn in what unfolds in our lives, we refuse to accept what God is trying to give to us. If we decide not to seize the chance to love our neighbor, we throw away the gift God is giving us.
Yet God made us to learn and grow through endurance, which is a reflection of love. To become more than we have been, by obediently submitting ourselves to the will of God, we show who we are. By loving our neighbor, we demonstrate who we are.
In the film "Restless Heart," Saint Monica says to her son, Saint Augustine, "Don't forget who you are." As he continued to ignore the call from God to become who he really was, she admonished him to embrace his true identity, where he would find deep joy and happiness.
God made us to be happy and joyous. We find deep joy and happiness when we turn towards God, and submit ourselves to Him, and praise and glorify and adore Him, and love our neighbor. We do not realize this is why God made us. We must not forget who God made us to be.
We are to use what God has given to us to bear much fruit to His glory. We are to use the gifts God has given to us.
Kelly told me that at one point she had been in college. She has told me that she would like to go back to school and get her Bachelor's Degree.
Kelly realizes that she is meant to be more than she has been. She knows that she must respect herself. In loving herself, she can become who God has always meant her to be. In loving each other, we become who God created us to be.
God calls us to respect each other. When we respect others, we invite them to respect themselves too.
We respect and love ourselves. We wish to be respected and loved. Thus we should respect and love others, since we wish to be respected and loved. Seeing that we too would like to be respected and loved, we come to be able to love our neighbor as ourselves,* just as Jesus taught us.
* Matthew 22:39; Mark 12:31; Luke 10:27; Leviticus 19:18; Romans 13:9; Galatians 5:14
Often I think about the people who sift through the garbage and recyclables in the dumpsters in the parking lot outside my window. They usually sort through it around 5:00 a.m. I've imagined that they come at that time because they want to get what they can out of it before the garbage truck comes around 5:30 a.m. to empty the dumpsters.
I've imagined talking with them when they are going through the garbage and the recyclables. I've envisioned saying something to them like, "I'm not going to try to stop you from going through the garbage. You can do so. I'm not disturbed by the sound. I am deeply saddened that human beings care for each other so little that some people are reduced to rifling through garbage. I believe you were meant to be treated with more dignity. We are supposed to treat you with more respect."
Homeless folks have told me and shown me that they collect recyclables to exchange for money. Earlier this week, I asked a homeless woman, who I'll call "Kelly" here, what she was going to buy with the money she was going to get from the recyclables she had. She told me she was going to buy cigarettes.
In addition to nicotine, homeless folks also fall prey to illicit drugs. Kelly has confessed to me that she has taken methamphetamines. Meth is inexpensive, so homeless folks can get it.
Although meth doesn't cost much money, homeless folks pay a high price for it. In using it, people become less than they were meant to be.
When we do not acknowledge the presence of a homeless person, we treat them as less than they actually are. By acting as if homeless people do not exist, we rip them down just like an illicit drug tears them down.
In addition to meth tearing people down, people use it in the first place since they are down. Kelly has identified her low self-esteem as the root of her problems. She admitted to me that she does things which she thinks will make her feel better, but which don't help. She has acknowledged too that she tries to numb herself to prevent herself from feeling what she doesn't want to feel. Kelly does not want to feel the disrespect that has been shown to her. She would rather turn aside from the pain inflicted on her.
We cannot justify ignoring and casting aside those who are homeless or otherwise poor. We cannot in good conscience tell them that they must accept their lot, for in doing so we reject our duty to love them.
In loving homeless persons and showing them respect, we build them up. We help them become more than they have been. By treating homeless persons with dignity, we help them to rise above the suffering they have endured. If any of us refuse to help our neighbor, whether homeless or not, we are ignoring the lessons of love presented to us.
If any of us, whether we are homeless or rich, only try to escape from pain, and never embrace suffering, we are refusing to learn from what life presents to us. Through life's hardships, God seeks to mold us, just as He does by way of life's blessings.
God asks that we agree to become who He created us to be. We are called to become who God made us to be.
We find out who we are as we endure life's challenges. If we reject what we have to learn in what unfolds in our lives, we refuse to accept what God is trying to give to us. If we decide not to seize the chance to love our neighbor, we throw away the gift God is giving us.
Yet God made us to learn and grow through endurance, which is a reflection of love. To become more than we have been, by obediently submitting ourselves to the will of God, we show who we are. By loving our neighbor, we demonstrate who we are.
In the film "Restless Heart," Saint Monica says to her son, Saint Augustine, "Don't forget who you are." As he continued to ignore the call from God to become who he really was, she admonished him to embrace his true identity, where he would find deep joy and happiness.
God made us to be happy and joyous. We find deep joy and happiness when we turn towards God, and submit ourselves to Him, and praise and glorify and adore Him, and love our neighbor. We do not realize this is why God made us. We must not forget who God made us to be.
We are to use what God has given to us to bear much fruit to His glory. We are to use the gifts God has given to us.
Kelly told me that at one point she had been in college. She has told me that she would like to go back to school and get her Bachelor's Degree.
Kelly realizes that she is meant to be more than she has been. She knows that she must respect herself. In loving herself, she can become who God has always meant her to be. In loving each other, we become who God created us to be.
God calls us to respect each other. When we respect others, we invite them to respect themselves too.
We respect and love ourselves. We wish to be respected and loved. Thus we should respect and love others, since we wish to be respected and loved. Seeing that we too would like to be respected and loved, we come to be able to love our neighbor as ourselves,* just as Jesus taught us.
* Matthew 22:39; Mark 12:31; Luke 10:27; Leviticus 19:18; Romans 13:9; Galatians 5:14
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