I have been thinking about the homeless man in NYC who got killed while helping a lady who was getting mugged. People walked past him for more than an hour while he laid there either already dead or dying. No one offered to help! This has disturbed me so badly. I was watching a psychologist talk about it on TV and she said they have a name for this. Basically people don’t see the situation as alarming and so they don’t stop to help. She stated that possibly people could tell he was homeless, they have become immune to seeing the homeless, and so they just thought he was lying there. No attention needed.
May I never become immune to seeing or feeling for the homeless. Now, please don’t misunderstand me. I know that people in NYC see a lot more homeless than we do. I know many homeless people “hit” on these people daily, wanting money, etc. I understand. I saw and experienced this first hand in Beijing, China. However, I truly hope that I don’t become calloused when it comes to feeling for others.
So, as I said, I have been thinking about this. This poor man helped a woman get away from a mugger and was killed in cold blood. No one helped. Why? Because he was stereotyped as a “just another homeless man”. He was expected to be lying on the street. No one saw anything wrong in that. However, if it had been a man lying there in a business suit, people would’ve done something.
Have you ever been stereotyped by people? I have. And it stinks! It took me years to get over things people had said about me when I was younger. Years! Do you stereotype others? If you do, please stop! It hurts more than you know. The only thing that matters is what God says about you. And He says that He loves you. So much that He sent His son to die in your place.
I pray that this homeless man knew Jesus as his personal savior. I pray that he will be remembered, not for being just a number; a homeless number on the street. No, I pray he will be remembered for his bravery, for the honor that he showed when he helped the lady in trouble. I pray that people will now look around them and care about what they are seeing. Whether in a suit or in used, dirty clothes, all are people and deserve respect and love. It’s what we are called to do.
On my daughters 15th birthday she was awoke by the doorbell ringing. It was summer break so her and my son were home alone, I was a few miles up the road at work. She looked our her window, didn’t know the guy, so she didn’t answer the door (smart girl). A few minutes later she got up and walked into our kitchen….right into the guy who had rang the doorbell! He had come in through our back door and was in my house…with my 2 children! She stayed calm, asked him what he was doing and demanded he leave. He did. We know who it did it, but he was never formally charged. He made away with my son’s PSP game which was sitting on our kitchen counter…but that was easily replaced.
Every day when we went to the village to continue building the church, we would be welcomed by our welcoming committee (the women of the village) and then they would disappear for quite a while. Eventually we would see them coming back, with bags full of fresh vegetables. They would then all gather into a home and fix enough lunch for all of them, plus 12 of us on a 2 burner stove—the kind like we would take camping! Every day they did this for us. Day in, day out. They would watch us eat, then they would eat the leftovers (if there were any).
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