Gary, is a friend of mine who is now 8 months sober from an addiction to heroin. This post is written as a perspective on ensuring that our brothers and sisters stay hydrated and how important it is. Mobile Loaves & Fishes is not only raising funds to hydrate our brothers and sisters (www.mlfnow.org/water) we are also assembling a small army of folks that are interested in delivering water (read previous posts) to these brothers and sisters on the streets.
-Alan
"Go on, get out of here. This is private property."; "Darn, this one doesn't have a handle on the spigot either."; "Come on, hurry up! It may be dark but what if they come outside?"
- Fear, desperation, necessity. My name is Gary M. and for the past three summers I spent everyday of my life standing on the hot pavement for hours on end, trying to panhandle enough money to make it through the day. I went to any length to make the money I needed, even if it meant standing there all day 7 days/week. For those of you that may be unaware, the last three summers (plus this year) have had a record number of days per month with 100 degree plus temperatures. My face and arms have peeled at least three times per summer. People that knew me before I 'hit' the streets have commented that I appear to have aged 10 years. I have peeled scabs from my ears and nose because I failed to hydrate properly on a daily basis and still have possible carcinomas from exposure. My brothers and sisters, I don't have to tell you it's hot out there. Step out of the a/c in your cars, offices, and homes for 30 minutes. It's obvious.
Out of desperation, we would go to any length to retrieve water. Out of necessity we took a chance that we might be arrested for getting a drink from somebody else's hydrant. We lived in fear of going to jail, or dying of thirst. I don't know if you have ever been that desperate, but I pray you will never have to experience it.
If you understand anything about the reasons why some people are homeless you should know that they may be out there by no fault of their own. If you do not understand, then read on further in this Blog, or spend fifteen minutes with Alan Graham and you will never hear it more clearly. The point is, for whatever reason an individual may be 'living' on the street, you probably agree all humans have the right to a drink of water when they are thirsty.
My personal reason for being 'homeless' is not important. What is important is the opportunity you have when you give that 'gentile' a drink. When Jesus visited Jacob's well, as shared in the new testament of the Christian Bible, He used the opportunity of sharing with another thirsty individual the Word of God. He shared with a Samaritan (considered unclean humans) woman in John 4:13,14 - 'Jesus answered her, "Everyone who drinks this water will thirst again, but whoever drinks the water I give him will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life." Take the opportunity, you may have the chance to save their life twice. First, they may not die of thirst. Second, what you share may help them make a decision to change their life. They may not end up, as many of my brothers and sisters have, dying on the streets of Austin, TX or Anytown, USA from the elements and illnesses aquired while living in 'deplorable' conditions.
I lived the life and am still alive today by the Grace of a loving God and the 'angels' that shared water that quenched my thirst for awhile, and eternal water that quenched my thirst for life. Because those angels shared their eternal water with me, today I am a recovered Heroin addict and living in a 4 br/2 bath brick home (a Sobriety House). Today I have been clean and sober for 8 months. Today I work, pay rent, and get a drink of water from the kitchen faucet like most of you. I receive eternal water from the Christian Bible. If you share with others like me, they may drink from that eternal well. If they don't, you still may quench their physical thirst and allow them the gift of living one more day. For God's sake, if not theirs, help them live to see God's beauty one more time.
-Gary
