Tags
compassion, desperation, emotion, empathy, homeless, kindness, love, nature, personal, philosophy, spiritual
.
For sentient beings, poor and destitute,
May I become a treasure ever plentiful,
And lie before them closely in their reach,
A varied source of all that they might need. ~ Shantideva
.
.
They’ve transplanted
the homeless
to make room
for tulips —
they’re a tourist attraction.
We’ve all read
the statistics
on homelessness.
There’s no need
to be reminded.
There’s no need
to see their faces,
or look into their eyes,
see the hurt, the pain,
the tears —
they’re not a tourist attraction.
Perhaps, if we spent
as much time, money and effort
dealing with the root causes
of homelessness —
as we do on tulips —
there wouldn’t be
a problem.
.
Dennis Cardiff 
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Thanks for reblogging my post. It is much appreciated. ~ Dennis
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Hate to be them explaining to God why they lived their lives being so selfish and uncaring of others. As the Bible says in Matthew 25: 45, 46 KJV– 45Then shall he answer them, saying, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye did it not to one of the least of these, ye did it not to me. 46And these shall go away into everlasting punishment: but the righteous into life eternal.
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I agree, Elaine, and I think of that passage often. ~ Dennis
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Very well said! When do we stop putting the almighty dollar ahead of people? It makes God very sad to see it.
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Hi Elaine, that is exactly the situation. The people in power are the wealthy. They make decisions that will benefit themselves and their friends. The homeless don’t even get a vote. ~ Dennis
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Indeed, well said.
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Thanks, Holly, for your encouragement and support. Sometimes I just have to rant about the unfairness that I see. Surely, others aren’t blind to the situation, but nothing changes. ~ Dennis
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I agree…well said, Dennis.
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Hello Skye, thanks for your kind words. It is frustrating to see so much public money going to support business, when people are left hungry, homeless and without medical aid.
There are many organizations that help, but resources are limited, phone calls aren’t returned, appointments not kept, staff keep changing and clients are left hanging. ~ Dennis
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I wonder if the powers that be see it as a failure on their part, and I mean that from within themselves so they, ‘out of site, out of mind’ the situation so they are not reminded of that failure. Good work Dennis.
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Hi Mark, Thanks for your comment. That is exactly what they do. We are even told that by the police. “Go someplace we don’t patrol.” We ask where that is and don’t get an answer.
The Mission, the Salvation Army, the Shepherd’s of Good Hope, all places the homeless go to eat are downtown. The HIV/AIDS drop in center, and 507 who provide groceries and lunches are downtown. How does one be downtown and also ‘out of sight’? That is the dilemma! Wherever the homeless move they are taking up the same amount of space, but if they are kept moving it doesn’t appear to be the permanent problem that it is.
I loved your ‘About’ post. Our journeys are very similar. ~ Dennis
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Thanks Dennis, on hindsight we realise our journeys are exactly what are needed for us (at the time we go through them we want to be any other place but there), and helps us to become the people that we now are. I’ve been reading your blog for some time now and find it very inspiring as well, and especially the way you express the lives of the homeless. Most people would donate ten or twenty dollars and walk off and forget about it but it takes a special person to take it to another level and give from within. Keep up the good work.
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Well said Dennis
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Thanks, as always, Sue. I should add that Ottawa, being the capital of Canada, is overly concerned with the appearance of public lawns, parks and flower gardens. The annual tulip festival is the largest in the world, with over a million tulips in 50 varieties blooming in public spaces across the National Capital Region.
I have no complaints about the tulip festival itself, but I think the welfare of Ottawa citizens should come before the attracting of tourists. They even remove the benches from the parks for fear that homeless people will sit or sleep on them. ~ Dennis
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Yes sad when it seems our cities have its priorities wrong, Places before People and Profit before People.. It is the same world wide….. Thank you for caring… and doing what you do
Sue
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