DIVERSITY/CIVILITY
The late Erma Bombeck once wrote, “I live in a subdivision so conservative
that when my women’s club celebrated diversity day, the best we could come up
with was two fat ladies and a Democrat.” Going into the Home Van experience, I
was on the opposite end of the spectrum. My diversity might have been a Mary
Kay distributor and a Methodist. I thought I was an advocate for diversity, but
I didn’t know anything about it. I stayed in my demographic of old
hippies/radicals/artists etc.
Early on we realized that we needed to have respect for all the opinions we
encounter among our homeless friends. If one of the old vets told me that Rush
Limbaugh would be an excellent choice for President of the United States, I made
a conscious practice of listening from my Buddha spot, where all is sacred. One
of my special memories is the day Country came to see me. Country, when he was
sober, was the epitome of a southern gentlemen, and an especially kind person.
In my livingroom I have a small collection of Virgin Mary art. Country looked
it over, turned to me, folded his hat across his chest, and said, “Miz Arupa, I
know you don’t know this, but you are committing the sin of Mariolatry. Only
pictures of Jesus should be on the wall because He is our Lord and Savior. If
you leave these pictures up here, you might die and go to Hell forever. I don’t
mean no disrespect, Miz Arupa, I just thought you oughter know.”
I thanked him. He cared about me.
We are living in a time when civility is becoming a lost art. I know it’s
possible to learn from everyone, because humans have much more in common with
each other than we have different, no matter what map of reality we are using.
It’s trying to remember that in the midst of storms– that’s the hard part.
UPDATE ON “k”
Several of you have inquired about K, the young man who had aged out of
foster care and nearly became homeless after a bruising encounter with his
biological parents. K now has a place to live and a job. All he needed was a
leg up.
BUG SPRAY AND BOTTLED WATER
Same topic as last month. The woods are already swarming with mosquitoes.
They hit there, especially along the banks of Sweetwater Branch, much earlier
than in town. Bug spray and bottled water will be our greatest need for the
next few months.
TRIUMPHS AND TRAGEDIES
I spend more time in this newsletter recounting triumphs than tragedies. I
want to celebrate the accomplishments of our homeless citizens, as well as the
courage, love and patience so many of them demonstrate. I want everyone on
this list to know that you are making a difference – in the donating and
volunteering you do for us and other organizations, and on your own, you are
saving lives and bringing happiness to homeless people.
There is tragedy also. My husband said to me recently that he can scarcely
bear to bike by the downtown plaza during the later evening, because it such a
tragedy – people everywhere wrapped in old blankets, people screaming, bundles
scarcely identifiable on the sidewalk, except that he knows there are human
beings inside them. The most vulnerable and disabled – by mental illness or
addictions or both – basically live on the plaza. They don’t have the ability
to set up a tent. They are in a free fall through life. Not because they are
worse than anyone else – whose life has not been touched by mental illness or
addictions? – but because they have nothing. Please keep these children of God
in your prayers.
Peace and love to everyone,
arupa
___________________________________________________________________________________
The Home Van needs tents, tarps, bottled
water, bug spray,Vienna sausages, creamy peanut butter, jelly, candles, white
tube socks, batteries, and games. Call 352-372-4825 to arrange for drop off. Financial
donations to the Home Van should be in the form of checks made out to Citizens
for Social Justice, Inc., earmarked for the Home Van, and mailed to 307 SE 6th
Street, Gainesville, FL 32601, or can be made online at
http://homevan.blogspot.com/
THE HOMEVAN IS A PROJECT OF CITIZENS FOR SOCIAL
JUSTICE, INC. (FDACSREGISTRATION #CH35643). A COPY OF THE OFFICIAL REGISTRATION
AND FINANCIAL INFORMATION MAY BE OBTAINED FROM THE DIVISION OF CONSUMER SERVICES
BY CALLING TOLL-FREE (800-435-7352) WITHIN THE STATE.REGISTRATION DOES NOT IMPLY
ENDORSEMENT, APPROVAL, OR RECOMMENDATION BY THE
STATE.
