Loneliness: Something Both the Rich and Poor Have In Common.
There may have been times in your life where you found yourself wondering- what do I have in common with the poor? On paper, probably not much. But on the inside, we experience many of the same emotions.
I recently moved into a house and am living by myself for the first time in my life. There are moments where I experience a deep sense of loneliness. I also recently started working at an area homeless shelter and one thing that has really struck me is that people who are poor and homeless are
sometimes really lonely and they have a deep need for community.
There are elderly men at my agency who check their mail every day just hoping for something, even though they know no one is planning to write them. There are other people who have houses to live in and a roof over their heads and they come down to the shelter just to hang out, check in on their friends, and be around people. This is baffling to me!
However, I think it’s a great illustration of our need for human relationships. I’ve also encountered people who want to and are trying to change but they keep running with the same crowd that makes bad choices and uses drugs.
This is not unlike a similar conversation I had with a young girl from my church this week. She told me she was nervous to start middle school because she heard that many of the girls at this one particular school get pregnant. I encouraged her to choose wisely which friends she decides to spend time with. When you visit the poor among you, I challenge you to see yourself in them. What emotions (relational highs and lows, financial struggles, future hopes and dreams) might you share with someone who is poor? I believe that once we start to consider this, we’ll realize that we’re not as different from the poor as we think.
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