Getting Wet

The weather prediction was spot on.  Rains poured and this morning, the chill in the air is in the low 40 degrees fahrenheit.  The word "frigid" matches.  Travel was part of the blessing received in the last 24 hours - therefore, the experience of the movement brought vistas of snow-capped mountains, frozen waterways, and blue skies with puffy clouds that appeared to have been painted into existence.  Today is Saturday.

Things that are coming into awareness today include the fact of the suffering that comes with being without shelter in times like this.  There is no reason why elders, people with mental disabilities, former prisoners, and others should be without shelter.  There are those who make the choice not to be under a roof of any kind - no matter if it is temporary or supposedly transition space into permanent housing.  One is "free" not to seek shelter – and besides, there is insufficient space for the numbers of people who are on the streets.

Coming for southern California, a city of angels, one might think the worst of it exists there because of sheer numbers.  But in northern California the same exists - except it is colder and there are fewer spots where one might tuck into a doorway or over a vent.  None of this makes sense.  The condition brings the thought of swimming upstream, endlessly.  There are complexities at every turn - the sheer numbers being the easiest point to get.  What those numbers represent:  therein lies the complexity.  

Answers are being sought, options are being created, advocates are raising voices, resource holders are making investments to relieve some of the pain and hardship that exists in communities.  No one approach, like so many things in today's world, will make the difference.  It all has to work together.

It is yet another example of how the fundamental lesson of life is illustrated through this challenge of meeting the needs of the unsheltered:  There has to be a willingness to care, to feel compassion, to identify what small part each one can play to make vulnerable lives a little less vulnerable.  The wellspring of moving from awareness to action has to come from realizing that the energy put into plans and strategies can only be sustained with a deep sense of love and a great sense of faith that these conditions are not where humanity should be in this day.  One may engage in so many different ways - a donation of clothing, a prayer, a blessing.  Or, if one is positioned to do so in life, a major move to build a building, create channels of access to goods needed to survive outside, elect leaders who will dedicate themselves to changing societal priorities.  

Food and shelter are fundamental.

Wisdom has to come from stopping the search for an answer and recognizing that there are a mulititude of answers.  This is a situation in which there are no wrong answers if the action comes from the place of love and wisdom, coupled with intelligence beyond the numbers.

In the meantime, there are people who are getting wet.  That's the story that is being told as the storms move toward another day, with warmth that will one day arrive again.