I was going through my music today because my hard drive is filling up, and I got to my collection of Caedmon's Call songs. I'm always torn about what to do with them. On one hand, they're full of theology that I no longer participate in. On the other hand, they're pretty and the harmonies are FUN. One song, This World, had some lyrics that jumped out at me since many of the blogs (Jo, Caleb, Julie) that I read have been raising this issue lately:

This world is making me drunk on the spirits of fear.
So when he says who will go, I am nowhere near.

And the least of these look like criminals to me
So I leave Christ on the street

It's alluding to this statement by Jesus about the final judgement:

Matthew 25:34-40
"Then the King will say to those on his right, 'Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world. For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.'

"Then the righteous will answer him, 'Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you? When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?'

"The King will reply, 'I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me.'"

He goes on to judge those who didn't help other people in need, and to say that in refusing to help other people, they refused to help him, and will be judged accordingly.

I went out for drinks last night with a friend and his girlfriend who was visiting from France, and she was marvelling at how many crazy people we have wandering our streets and that we have so many commercials asking for money for the Make a Wish Foundation. She said that it was strange to her that we would donate money to send kids to Disneyworld, something that will not help to heal their diseases at all, while completely ignoring so many desperate adults. She wondered how a civilized society could abandon so many people, saying that at least this isn't the Middle Ages anymore — at least we don't burn them.

I was reading this thread about what a nuisance the local beggars are on the Toronto LiveJournal community board, and I was surprised how unified the emotion was. Everyone was anti-beggar, everyone saw them as a problem, not people to be helped. They see beggars as lazy people who are trying to take our hard-earned money undeservedly, especially since we already pay taxes, so they should be using public services and not cluttering our sidewalks. Examples:

"I am of the opinion if you are ablebodied and of sound mind, you should be able to work and provide for yourself."
"The last time someone approached me, I yelled at them to get a job. I support many of the sentiments posted here: I work hard for my money. I subscribe to the "you-make-your-bed-you-lie-in-it" theory. People ALWAYS have a choice."
"you know what i've noticed? NO ONE even says please anymore. they just ask for money as if its sole purpose is to be handed out willy nilly to people who are apparently above working a shitty grocery store job (or something similar), like the rest of us have when we've had no money or real work experience."

You SHOULD be able to work and provide for yourself, but the reality is that the lower class in Canada has it hard. Most of the new jobs that are created are temporary, part-time, and minimum wage. A single person making minimum wage in Toronto spends 90% of their money on rent. Imagine trying to survive on that with kids? Hell, try to get a job without an address. Try to get an apartment without an income. It's a vicious cycle. Campaign 2000 has tons of information on child poverty in Canada. One Canadian child in six lives below the poverty line, and that line is low. In Toronto, it's one child in three.

The stress of having homeless people begging me for money as I walk home is nowhere near the stress of living on the streets and needing to beg hostile strangers for the money for your daily food, the stress of trying to get a meagre amount of welfare when you have no fixed address, the stress of trying to survive life in a shelter.

And I am no better. I don't give people money. I say that it's because I don't really have much money, that I would rather give money to the shelters, but I don't do that either and I seem to have enough money to go to plays and to go out for drinks, to buy cute shirts that are on sale, clothes that I certainly don't need. And 'the least of these' often does look like a threat to me when I'm walking home late at night. I gave out a couple of bottles of water when it was really hot out this summer, but that's just a drop in the bucket. I try to look them in the eye and say "sorry" rather than pretending they're just part of the pavement. I don't feel like that's enough though. This problem seems overwhelming and sometimes I try to forget about it because it's easier than facing such a hard truth.

Mashuga is a fotolog that profiles homeless people in New York City, with portraits and stories. It's a good read when you need to remember again that these are real people with families and pasts and stories.