An excerpt from Dee-Blak's webblog
One of the guys I volunteer with has a blog. He wrote this after returning home from our weekly Wednesday night outing. He captured the mix of feelings of what it can be like out there trying to give hope to homeless people.
A brother had just had a stroke last night!
Current mood: grateful
Category: Life
We take so much for granted these days
We worry about bills and car loans, and mortgages
I'm starting to envy the homeless people we meet each Wednesday
Seems their only concern is where they will eat and where they will sleep
Cant really worry about anything else because it doesn't really matter
I had a trunk full of blankets last night
And with each stop the number got smaller and smaller
They almost fought over the clothes and shoes
I wanted to cry as most of them walked away empty handed
And as we pulled off for the next location I could see
Different individuals runnin then stopping abruptly and turning around again
They had missed the food and water, they didn't get a blanket or a new used outfit
There is so much peace in giving
I wish the entire world could understand the concept of giving
Giving and not wanting in return is the ultimate gift
Giving a need, giving a want, giving of self
So I frown when they yell "get a job" at my homeless brothers and sisters
Would want to see them try a get a job when they haven't bathed in a month
Then try maintaining a job when there is no adequate transportation
Then try getting sleep for a job when there is no good place to lay your head each night
What about having energy for the job when there isn't enough money to eat each day
So at the end of each day I smile at my problems
I laugh at my worries
I have NO reason to ever raise my voice or get unruly
I am becoming like my street family
We just don't have time to worry
The struggle of life is too fast as it is
The hustle moves 100miles a minute and you either hang on or get dragged
Right now, I'm riding that monster like a redneck duck taped to a raging bull
And even if I'm swung upside down I'll still be latched on
We riding until we die...
A brother had just had a stroke last night.
His legs don't twisted as he stood against his cain
But yet he smiled
He smile and said " At least I'm still standing."
And my brother Rodney hugged him
A most powerful scene, but to us there...
It was nothing
It was the least we could do
He called Lonnie J, "dread"
And said "whets your real name"
Then he knew all of us personally
He knew he had friends now
And when he stood up to say goodbye I noticed something
He fought the uncomfort and straightened his legs.
He sat his cane to the side
and he shook our hand like a man
AMAZING what a little love can do
I haven't been to "church" in months
But each Wednesday, it feels like more church than I've ever been to
One night on the streets fills a void in my life that three weeks in church does
I truly understand how where only a few are gathered in his name
there he will rest as well
I can feel him in their smiles
I see him around our cars and personal items as they remain untouched week after week.
He gives us their respect and they give us their love and we give them us.
My life is full of problems on the backside
And as I told my wife, sometimes it seems that I have more peace on the streets
Than I have in my own home
from uncles to cousins to strayed friends, home is a constant drama zone
But on the streets each night
There is just love.
There is compassion.
There is a giver and a taker
There are hustlers and grinders
And the one common goal is to get to the next level in life
While at home most American families waste money
No savings
No Investments
Not one single asset only a life full of liabilities
I've met so many on the streets that could take a $100 and make a million
Only if they had the right opportunity.
I'm back in my element now!
De'Blak is once again the unspoken sound that the streets surround
I'm the whisper in the night that wisps through the alleys
I am the voice of struggle
I am the son of redemption
I am the prince of the written word
I am the author of giving with nothing to gain
I lie somewhere between the verb and the noun
If you are ever in ATL...
Look for me
My reply below:
I hope you don't mind if I pass this around a bit. You nailed the feeling I get when we go out there to help people. The emotions I get on those nights when we find sick, hungry or cold people laying in the gutter are very difficult for me to explain because I feel like I can never understand that kind of suffering yet I see such pride and nobility on some of these faces we see. And the occasional teary eyed reactions we get where people look at us with such awe and profound appreciation humbles me beyond words and I feel like I don't deserve to be present. Like I'm standing in front of God unable to look him in the face.
A brother had just had a stroke last night!
Current mood: grateful
Category: Life
We take so much for granted these days
We worry about bills and car loans, and mortgages
I'm starting to envy the homeless people we meet each Wednesday
Seems their only concern is where they will eat and where they will sleep
Cant really worry about anything else because it doesn't really matter
I had a trunk full of blankets last night
And with each stop the number got smaller and smaller
They almost fought over the clothes and shoes
I wanted to cry as most of them walked away empty handed
And as we pulled off for the next location I could see
Different individuals runnin then stopping abruptly and turning around again
They had missed the food and water, they didn't get a blanket or a new used outfit
There is so much peace in giving
I wish the entire world could understand the concept of giving
Giving and not wanting in return is the ultimate gift
Giving a need, giving a want, giving of self
So I frown when they yell "get a job" at my homeless brothers and sisters
Would want to see them try a get a job when they haven't bathed in a month
Then try maintaining a job when there is no adequate transportation
Then try getting sleep for a job when there is no good place to lay your head each night
What about having energy for the job when there isn't enough money to eat each day
So at the end of each day I smile at my problems
I laugh at my worries
I have NO reason to ever raise my voice or get unruly
I am becoming like my street family
We just don't have time to worry
The struggle of life is too fast as it is
The hustle moves 100miles a minute and you either hang on or get dragged
Right now, I'm riding that monster like a redneck duck taped to a raging bull
And even if I'm swung upside down I'll still be latched on
We riding until we die...
A brother had just had a stroke last night.
His legs don't twisted as he stood against his cain
But yet he smiled
He smile and said " At least I'm still standing."
And my brother Rodney hugged him
A most powerful scene, but to us there...
It was nothing
It was the least we could do
He called Lonnie J, "dread"
And said "whets your real name"
Then he knew all of us personally
He knew he had friends now
And when he stood up to say goodbye I noticed something
He fought the uncomfort and straightened his legs.
He sat his cane to the side
and he shook our hand like a man
AMAZING what a little love can do
I haven't been to "church" in months
But each Wednesday, it feels like more church than I've ever been to
One night on the streets fills a void in my life that three weeks in church does
I truly understand how where only a few are gathered in his name
there he will rest as well
I can feel him in their smiles
I see him around our cars and personal items as they remain untouched week after week.
He gives us their respect and they give us their love and we give them us.
My life is full of problems on the backside
And as I told my wife, sometimes it seems that I have more peace on the streets
Than I have in my own home
from uncles to cousins to strayed friends, home is a constant drama zone
But on the streets each night
There is just love.
There is compassion.
There is a giver and a taker
There are hustlers and grinders
And the one common goal is to get to the next level in life
While at home most American families waste money
No savings
No Investments
Not one single asset only a life full of liabilities
I've met so many on the streets that could take a $100 and make a million
Only if they had the right opportunity.
I'm back in my element now!
De'Blak is once again the unspoken sound that the streets surround
I'm the whisper in the night that wisps through the alleys
I am the voice of struggle
I am the son of redemption
I am the prince of the written word
I am the author of giving with nothing to gain
I lie somewhere between the verb and the noun
If you are ever in ATL...
Look for me
My reply below:
I hope you don't mind if I pass this around a bit. You nailed the feeling I get when we go out there to help people. The emotions I get on those nights when we find sick, hungry or cold people laying in the gutter are very difficult for me to explain because I feel like I can never understand that kind of suffering yet I see such pride and nobility on some of these faces we see. And the occasional teary eyed reactions we get where people look at us with such awe and profound appreciation humbles me beyond words and I feel like I don't deserve to be present. Like I'm standing in front of God unable to look him in the face.
posted by Mr.Magoo at 10:07 AM
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