Educated, Homeless, and Hungry
8/31/24 11:00 AM
Anno.Domini.144K
August 31, 2024
In a dream vision, the Holy Spirit took me to the near future to a place indoors where homeless women could temporarily and safely stay in the daytime. There they could be sheltered from the street and the elements such as the cold and inclement weather. None of the woman there ever expected to be homeless in their lives. Some had been solid members of the middle class, even the upper middle class. Some had master’s degrees. Most of the women’s minds were sharp, not clouded by mental illness or the fog of addiction. Nevertheless, their intelligence had not prepared them for their current situation. Most of the women were stunned and unbelieving, as if they were stuck in a bad dream that they had not yet awoken from. They were grateful to find an acceptable place to stay in the day. The night was another story.
Soon these women were taken to a large warehouse facility like an Amazon distribution center. They walked through a long aisle where the items just stayed on the shelves mostly because people weren’t buying. The facility had an employee cafeteria where some of the homeless were allowed to eat a meal. One of the homeless women went through the line and placed various food items on her tray. One item was a styrofoam plate of wobbly green jello squares, which soon fell off the tray onto the floor of the facility. The woman reached down and picked up the jello squares with her bare fingers, putting them back on her tray—not to throw them away later, but to eat them, even if they had dirt and dust on them. She needed the protein in the gelatin and didn’t know when she would eat again.
The economic times coming to America will be dark and disorienting to many. Stay strong in the faith and be a comfort to others, for God is our strength, our counselor, and provider. Amen.
Scripture:
Psalm 107:4-9 NIV
4 Some wandered in desert wastelands,
finding no way to a city where they could settle.
5 They were hungry and thirsty,
and their lives ebbed away.
6 Then they cried out to the Lord in their trouble,
and he delivered them from their distress.
7 He led them by a straight way
to a city where they could settle.
8 Let them give thanks to the Lord for his unfailing love
and his wonderful deeds for mankind,
9 for he satisfies the thirsty
and fills the hungry with good things.
Isaiah 58:10 NIV
10and if you spend yourselves in behalf of the hungry
and satisfy the needs of the oppressed,
then your light will rise in the darkness,
and your night will become like the noonday.
Matthew 25:37-40 NIV
37 “Then the righteous will answer him, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? 38 When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you? 39 When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?’
40 “The King will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.’
1 Peter 4:9-10 NIV
9 Offer hospitality to one another without grumbling. 10 Each of you should use whatever gift you have received to serve others, as faithful stewards of God’s grace in its various forms.
