do the crossover ..

a few of us were talking today
we have in common christian concern for homelessness ..
some of us are

one voiced his plan on travelling to several cities and photo-recording the lives of homeless people
he wants to create a picture book

another wants to do something similar and put it on the internet

i mentioned in a recent post a project that went online last week, one close to my own heart
Not the Other, Oral Histories of People Experiencing Homelessness
( go here .. http://oralhistoriesproject.org/homepage.html )

i firmly believe that, outside the direct help we give our homeless brothers and sisters, this is the biggest thing we can do for them on a national scale

when we give people eyes and mouths and noses and the right/opportunity to tell
we give the statistics an opportunity to live ..

where did you sleep last night
what did you have for dinner ..
the homeless had a quite different experience
one sprinkled with fear, trepidation
seasoned with the insecurity of knowing that anything could happen to them this very night

in rapid-pace life like we experience it's easy to diss the person and nod to the stats
and in rapid-pace tech life it's easier to tech life
so that much of life occurs on a screen ..
that addiction to internet/cell sucks community out of me
i have less time and less opportunity and less interest in relating to people i can touch ..
it's easier too, because i can switch off whenever i get bothered or it gets too stressful or the person gets in my face ..
i can walk away

one exec at an internet news org recently gave up their cell for a week
think about that .. internet news exec .. no cell

we lose touch with the reality of people
because real people can't be tech'ed
the tech and the stats and the accompanying rhetoric are really ' virtual reality '
personhood is gone
relationship reduced to 1's and 0's and wifi signal-strength

we have removed ourselves from the ability to crossover to the other's reality
lost much of the soul of existence through relationship

think about that ..

compassion and empathy and understanding of another require relation on a real-life level ..
that's right where Jesus wants us
real-life
living life with him in mind
living life with person(s) in mind

we need so much to regain the crossover
to live in the facetoface of life
be able to feel the emotive content of the stats
be able to smell the homeless condition of my friend here
and that person there .. hadn't seen her before

be able to hug . . .    .... .
they really need a hug

that's why we need homeless stories
that's why we need to enable the homeless to tell their stories
they're human
they're imago dei too

Jesus resonates with the homeless
he lived there ..

i'm his disciple
i do what he do
i live where he live
i attitude his attitude

Jesus lived the crossover

let's do the crossover ..

shalom