loving my neighbour

i don't walk past boxes --
recycled homes

i don't keep my gaze up --
poverty staring

i don't step around feet --
wandering hopelessness

i live in a small town --
neat, quiet, tree-lined --
the prettiest in Canada!

but i cannot escape the reality
of men, de-humanized.
of women, brutalized.
of children, raped.
of people, chained.

they live in pretty towns, too.

their stories can barely be told.
their past cannot be erased.
their bodies can hardly be salvaged.

but their pain can be shared.
their burden, eased.
their voices, heard.

and this is what we're called to:

"Give to everyone who begs from you, and from one who takes away your goods do not demand them back. And as you wish that others would do to you, do so to them... But love your enemies, and do good, and lend, expecting nothing in return, and your reward will be great, and you will be sons of the Most High, for He is kind to the ungrateful and the evil. Be merciful, even as your Father is merciful." - Luke 6:31,35

for real? "give to everyone who begs from you"? no provisos, no qualifiers, no loopholes?

Heaven help us.

we're not Home yet.