ToJesusMyHeart Posted April 30, 2014 Share Posted April 30, 2014 An Experiment: If You Saw Your Wife Or Your Mother In The Street, Homeless, Would You Recognize Her? http://youtu.be/u6jSKLtmYdM Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Selah Posted April 30, 2014 Share Posted April 30, 2014 :( Very sad. Jesus said, whatever you do for the least of these, you do for me. Yet the rich get richer, and the poor get poorer. Help the weak among you. Pray for them, too. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Archaeology cat Posted April 30, 2014 Share Posted April 30, 2014 I couldn't believe it when I recently read an article in the paper complaining about all the "undesirable" people (ie: homeless). It's all too easy to look right past others. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ChristinaTherese Posted May 1, 2014 Share Posted May 1, 2014 (edited) I can't say I'm terribly shocked at people having trouble recognizing them. I have trouble recognizing my friends all the time when I see them in contexts I don't expect to see them in or with new haircuts or whatever. But I can see the point of that video too. Edited May 1, 2014 by Christina Thérèse Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AnneLine Posted May 1, 2014 Share Posted May 1, 2014 I struggle with this one. I get the point of the video, and it is a very sad thing. I've worked with people who were homeless and seeking work, and it is really hard when no one looks them in the eye, no one 'sees' them. And it can be a very startling -- and much appreciated -- thing for them to recieve a smile, a sealed soft drink, a piece of fruit that is given from one human to another. I don't think that many people who are counted among the homeless have that experience too often.... One the other side of the equation.... when I was in high school, we had a 'right-sizing' of the teaching force. Many of our teachers were out of work for a LONG time, and not by their own choice. One day several of our class mates were walking down by St. Anthony's Dining Room in San Francisco. St. Anthony's has served a good meal, at no charge, to anyone who comes for over 50 years. And the staff refers to them as 'guests' and treats them that way. Many people between jobs end up finding food there.... and I am glad it exists. However, my classmates were startled to find one of their former teachers in that line. I think it was the first time that homelessness had a 'face' for them. However, when they approached her, she got all upset and ran off, and before she had her meal. And I had the same experience when one of my former classmates came to take the vocational testing that I administered at the One Stop Career Center... sent by our social services program. She never came back for her results... I am fairly sure because she was embarassed that I knew. Probably would have been better had I given her some dignity and asked a co-worker to serve her... So.... sometimes... it can be a point of delicacy to NOT see someone you know in a tough spot. Having said that... the problem is when we don't look closely enough at ANY homeless person, and so wouldn't know.... if it was a friend, relative, spouse.... yup. It is sad. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AnneLine Posted May 1, 2014 Share Posted May 1, 2014 (edited) And then... there was the Homeless Jesus statue incident..... http://www.npr.org/2014/04/13/302019921/statue-of-a-homeless-jesus-startles-a-wealthy-community http://www.patheos.com/blogs/kathyschiffer/2013/11/homeless-jesus-statue-finds-a-fan-in-pope-francis/ The Pateos article says in part.... Shmalz worked for a year and a half to create this statue. According to a feature in the New York Daily News, he came up with the idea for the unusual sculpture after spotting a homeless person sleeping on the corner of one of Toronto’s busiest streets. It was Christmastime and while the rest of the city was bustling around with the holiday spirit, this person was wrapped up in a sleeping bag. Schmalz didn’t know if it was a man or a woman — all he could see was a mass of cloth lying still on the floor. He said, “My initial reaction was, ‘That is Jesus.’†This week, the artist presented his statue to Pope Francis on the steps of St. Peter’s Basilica. The Pope blessed it and, judging from his smile, seemed to like it a lot. Timothy Schmalz’s goal is goal is to exhibit the homeless Jesus on streets in the world’s biggest cities. He knows about how some people stereotype Christians and Christianity, but he thinks that homeless Jesus can challenge those perceptions. He had offered it to two renowned cathedrals, St. Michael’s in Toronto and St. Patrick’s in New York; but neither had been able to accept it. A spokesperson for St. Patrick’s Cathedral explained that they liked it, but the cathedral is currently undergoing a major renovation. The work was subsequently installed in front of the University of Toronto’s Regis College, until its presentation in Rome. It is not known whether it will find a permanent home in Rome, or where it might be installed. Edited May 1, 2014 by AnneLine Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
blazeingstar Posted May 1, 2014 Share Posted May 1, 2014 I can't say I'm terribly shocked at people having trouble recognizing them. I have trouble recognizing my friends all the time when I see them in contexts I don't expect to see them in or with new haircuts or whatever. But I can see the point of that video too. Among other sensory problems i deal with a good bit of "face blindness". To me most of the people in my office are white women with brown hair. They all look alike. When my fiancee shaves his beard off after a while i need to close my eyes and listen to his voice to be close to him until my brain can accept that it's him. It can put a strain on things. Yes, this video has a point, but to steal a bit out of CrossCut's book correlation is not causation. We are not tuning them out because they are undesirable poor, but because our brains simply can't handle the information. For one, many scientific studies show cities are detrimental to our overall mental health in general. For two, it's like that video where you're supposed to count the number of times a basketball was tossed and people don't notice the bear on fire running around. I think that while this highlights a social problem of homeless people being ignored by society, it's unfair that this correlation was made as people probably wouldn't recognize family sitting outside a cafe with a big hat on. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CatherineM Posted May 1, 2014 Share Posted May 1, 2014 The homeless go out of their way to try to be invisible. It keeps people or police from hassling them. 30 years ago the fashion design department at Penn State made the senior project to design a coat for the homeless. The people they interviewed all said they wanted them the color of concrete to blend in. They also wanted them long enough to sleep in, and with lots of interior pockets. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AnneLine Posted May 1, 2014 Share Posted May 1, 2014 (updated my last comment with some additional content...) BUSY THREAD, THIS! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spem in alium Posted May 1, 2014 Share Posted May 1, 2014 The homeless go out of their way to try to be invisible. It keeps people or police from hassling them. 30 years ago the fashion design department at Penn State made the senior project to design a coat for the homeless. The people they interviewed all said they wanted them the color of concrete to blend in. They also wanted them long enough to sleep in, and with lots of interior pockets. I'm currently running an appeal raising money for similar coats. They're like sleeping bags you can live in - black and warm, with a hood and lots of inside pockets. We're hoping to distribute them in city areas later next month. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Socrates Posted May 1, 2014 Share Posted May 1, 2014 They'll become visible again once there's an Elephant in the white house. The media's too blinded by all the bright glowing Hope'n'Change to see them now. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AugustineA Posted May 1, 2014 Share Posted May 1, 2014 (edited) The homeless go out of their way to try to be invisible. It keeps people or police from hassling them. 30 years ago the fashion design department at Penn State made the senior project to design a coat for the homeless. The people they interviewed all said they wanted them the color of concrete to blend in. They also wanted them long enough to sleep in, and with lots of interior pockets. Yep. It's true. That's an interesting story about the coat. Yesterday a homeless fellow missing one eye asked me for directions on the skytrain. I wasn't sure so went to check the map to find his stop, and he seemed uncomfortable with someone speaking to him or looking at him.. ooh.. I remembered a quote of Jesus from the gospel of Mark yesterday: "But they were silent. And Jesus looked around at them with anger, grieved at their hardness of heart." Edited May 1, 2014 by AugustineA Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CrossCuT Posted May 1, 2014 Share Posted May 1, 2014 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Anomaly Posted May 1, 2014 Share Posted May 1, 2014 I think the words are wrong. If you get angry and spend millions to get government "blessing" of who or what you "marry"' but don't care or spend your money on starving children, WTFIWWY? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fidei Defensor Posted May 1, 2014 Share Posted May 1, 2014 They'll become visible again once there's an Elephant in the white house. The media's too blinded by all the bright glowing Hope'n'Change to see them now. I doubt it. They won't become visible again until we as Christians choose to do something about it and minister to them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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