What if?

I was sitting in my truck talking on my cell phone when I noticed this woman walking up the street.  She was a ‘regular” at the Mission.  Today, her steps were unsure and very unsteady.  I wondered if she had been drinking or perhaps was dehydrated or both.  With our extremely hot weather it isn’t uncommon for the homeless to suffer from dehydration very quickly especially if they are drinking alcohol.  It’s also very dangerous—even life threatening.

This incident made me think about the “what if’s” in my life.  I started wondering about the times that I haven’t been paying attention or ignored happenings, or just remain oblivious to my surroundings.  What if I just ignored her and wrote her off as another ‘drunk”?  What if I didn’t pay attention to her?  What if I was so caught up in my conversation that I didn’t care?  What if I thought that I didn’t have the time to have my day interrupted and just went on about my way?  After all, wasn’t this situation her choice?  She knew not to drink.  She knew she couldn’t go to the main shelter if she had been drinking.  Was this my problem?  What if my attitude was “it’s not my problem; why should I get involved”?  What if I felt that since she made her choices, she needed to live the consequences of those choices?  What if I turned a “blind eye”?

I have heard some folks say that the homeless and the addicted make their choices.  The question has been proposed to me as to why the elected officials of this community should use tax dollars to support the people who come to the mission for services.  These folks have made a choice.  They choose alcohol, drugs, and to be homeless.  I have even been told that it isn’t the taxpayers of this community who should help these folks.  What if everyone in this community felt like that?  What if no one cared?  What if we as a society cared nothing about human suffering or offering help?  What if we ignored Jesus’ statement of “love your neighbor as yourself”?  What if I didn’t consider the addict, alcoholic, or the homeless to be a “neighbor”?

The woman in this writing has many medical problems.  I don’t know what would have happened to her if I didn’t see her.  Others came to help me and we got her over to the 1^st Step Center where she spent the night.  Two days later I saw her at one of our events.  She looked like a million dollars!  Clean clothes, hair washed, and helping out with the new program we were just starting, her face glowed.  She was sober and she was happy for two sober days!  What if this time made the difference for her?  What if she’s on the path to sobriety and recovery from her homelessness this time?  What if?