Normies

The other day in the Edmonton Journal, there was an article about a social group who had given a formerly homeless man a camera to take pictures in our inner city. It was a great article about how this man had been sober for 17 months and had his own home for the first time in 30 or so years, and a cat! Today's paper included an editorial from this same man about how people still give him dirty looks when he walks into a store, and they assume he is homeless and a threat. He challenged us "Normies", as we non-homeless people are apparently called, to get off our couches and come down to the Boyle Street Community Centre to see what they are all about.

That really gave me pause for thought, during this Christmas season when the Food Banks and Santas Anonymous warehouses are overflowing, but they are desperately calling for volunteers to wrap presents, fill hampers, and get the job done.

We have become a society that way too often just thinks if we throw money at a problem it will clear our conscience and go away. Time is so much more valuable to people these days - giving up some of that precious time is a true sacrifice. We can truly help our neighbours by doing, instead of just giving. Let them see the light of Jesus shining through our actions.

And as for the Normies treating the homeless people like outcasts - we are all of one race, all created by the Creator in his image...often the only difference between us and them is that we were able to get more lines of credit to keep us off the street.

No one is a mere mortal.