Eye for an eye

It’s been a bit since I last posted.  My heart has been on more journeys to see myself in the big picture.  I think the lesson could be “It’s not about me.”  My heart is so inherently selfish, self-seeking and self-promoting – but then that is basic human nature.  Some call it survival instinct.  I don’t want to just survive.  I want to live in a world where we value each other AT LEAST as much as we value ourselves (we want others to make it too?).  So, what’s the point?  Are the homeless invisible to you?  Do you decline eye contact because you don’t want to encourage the prospect of unwanted behavior?  Do you not want to think about the idea that this could happen to you?  Do you want to “tell” the other person that they deserve homelessness because they had to have been irresponsible in the first place to be homeless?  I defy anyone to be able to say one word as to how that person got there.  Yes, there are some who work a system to get by (but isn’t that true everywhere?), but the one remaining fact is that these are individuals of innate worth.  They matter.  Risk a smile and say “Hi!  Make eye contact and let someone know that they exist in the eyes of another person.  Everyone needs to know that they matter.  It could literally be the difference in that person’s life of whether to keep trying, or to literally give up through any number of self-destructive acts such as drugs, alcohol, prostitution, or suicide.  It cost you little – it has a world of potential.