07 May 2013

Reflections: Ronald Davis

"Wait a minute, I'm not a bum, I'm a human being."

These are the words of Ronald Davis, a homeless man who was interviewed in a moving video that is currently going viral all over the internet. Ronald's words serve as testimony to the cruel, cold life that people like you and me endure everyday. These people are in our communities, on the streets we drive on every day, they may even be having a cup of coffee in the doughnut shop you stop in on your way to work. How immoral is it that we get to have a nice warm bed, a nice home, a job, and people just like Ronald have had all these stripped away and are struggling to survive?

What do we normally think of homeless people? In the interview with Ronald, the word bum was mentioned, along with the common "get a job!" phrase. We tend to not think too highly of homeless people. It is ironic that we see them everyday, but few of us stop to offer some aid, and fewer even look deeper into their situation. Sadly, most of us are the "get a job" sayers. However, think for a second. Who would want to hire a homeless person? They have no home, they drag with them the filth of street life, and who knows what history they have? What if they are some kind of serial killer? Yeah, didn't think so.

Homeless is simply a state of being. These are just ordinary people created by God, just like you and me. Just because they are deprived of a home does not take away their dignity as a human person. People like Ronald are fully capable in doing good for society, but what they need is not so much money or food, but rather, an opportunity.

No comments:

Post a Comment