"An attitude of hope, I believe, is the forerunner of trust. The expression of this trust is belief.
One radio preacher said, "Hope is closer to wishing and it is not as strong as believing. If you hope God will do it, you give God the option not to. But if you maintain an attitude of hope, and you trust and believe intensely enough, that's a different story.
". . . since I have nothing, I have nothing else to lose, so 'Why not?' I think that's what Jesus was getting at, with the rich man getting through the eye of a needle. He had more baggage and therefore more to lose. Jessie Lair paraphrases, 'Here is a splendid, abundant life for you; all you need to do is let loose of your garbage.'"
Pat McDonough
Without Keys: My 15 Weeks With The Street People !996
P. 282
Pat, a middle class, professional woman found herself homeless in Minneapolis--in my backyard, if you will. Pardon my emphasis. Sometimes I have to shake myself loose from inaccurate pictures stored in my head.
I've read 2 or 3 books by people who know, first hand, what it's like living on the streets or in their van. I might expect to encounter lessons in perseverence and survival. I'm not sure I'd have looked to the homeless for wisdom and hope. But Pat McDonough certainly has some.
And that makes sense, I guess. 1 Corinthians 1:27 says, "God has chosen the foolish things of the world to shame (confound KJV) the wise, and God has chosen the weak things of the world to put to shame (confound) the things that are mighty . . . "
What is "your" perception of the homeless? Mine is changing . . . some mind pictures are accurate; others, not.
EverGrowing,
Lonnie
