A Conversation: 
A man who’s passionate about social justice ponders the term “homeless” and all the negativity associated with it. On his way to work one day, he sees a man holding a cardboard sign sitting along his pathway and decides to get his opinion.

“Excuse me,” he says. “I’m sorry to bother you, but I know that when people hear ‘homeless’ person, especially in a news headline, they tend to think that all homeless people are bad. I know that’s not true and I really want to help change that.”

The seated man looks up from his sign with a look of encouragement and gives the social justice seeker his undivided attention.

Feeling he’s on to something big, and hoping he would bring more encouragement to the man struggling he asks confidently, “I was wondering, instead of being called homeless, would you rather be called, undomiciled?”

With a deflated look on his face he politely replies, “Actually, I prefer to be called, Eric.”

The conversation above only occurred in my head, but it was inspired by prayer and actual conversations I’ve been a part of. Eric however, is very real, and it’s his sign in the photo above. I met him in New York City and he is frequently on my heart. Please keep him in prayer.

What’s the point? 
I’ve been the one trying to figure out a new term for “homeless” and God hit me with the thought, “What’s a new term really going to change?” Just like a pre-owned car is still used, an undomiciled person is still homeless. Changing the name of the problem, doesn’t change the problem. However, as a culture,  we need to be reminded…”homeless” is a person’s situation and not a character trait.

There are hundreds of thousands of people (if not over a million) in the United States alone, that like Eric, do not have a place they call home. While they may have a common situation, they are all unique individuals. The simple truth is that every life has value and every person is worth being known. Just like there are no two fingerprints exactly alike, there are no two stories exactly alike. If we all would take time to realize that all these “groups” we conveniently categorize people in to are actually composed of unique individuals,  then maybe we would see less hate and actually witness people loving their neighbors.

Changing the world starts with changing your view of it. My hope is that if you don’t already, you start seeing everyone for the unique person that they are!

Thank you for taking the time to read this. Nothing is accomplished without your love and support.