Breaking Open a Hardened Heart

The contents of a small backpack sprawled across the floor.  A few items of clothing, a notebook, a thin blanket, and some other miscellaneous items lay before me.   This is a typical scene at the organization I work at.  Men coming in for the intake process are asked to empty any bags they have when coming in so that a bag check can be completed.  As these men’s few belongings are dumped out and then picked back up, I am hit with the realization that these are their lives, all packed up in small bags.  Many of them are struggling with drug/alcohol addictions, many of them have come out of prison with nowhere to go, and the list goes on.  These are their lives as men experiencing homelessness.  Each day, I have the opportunity to love them where they are at and encounter Christ among them.

As much as it hurts to say, my attitude towards people experiencing homelessness was not always one of compassion.  It was easy for me to judge and think to myself that it was a person’s fault for ending up homeless and therefore, their own problem to deal with.  They just needed to get a job or work harder.  My mindset was along the lines of, “If they would not have done ‘this’ or would have done ‘that’, then they wouldn’t be in this situation.”  My heart was cold and hardened toward this group of people.  Over time, God began to work within this area of my heart.  The turning point came during my junior year of college.  I was on a spring break retreat/mission trip in New Mexico.  We went to visit Catholic Charities in Albuquerque.  Something that one of the staff members said stuck with me since that day;  “A lot of the people we encounter may have made poor decisions.  However, It’s not our job to question why they are in the situations they are in.  It is our job to help them.”  It’s such a simple statement but it is exactly what we are called to do as Christians.  Since then, God has broken open my heart and filled it with love and mercy for those who are homeless.  It has become easier for me to realize that homelessness is a lot more complex than it appears and there are many different stories.

A lot of times, we might feel uncomfortable when we first take time to acknowledge some of the most vulnerable, poor, and weak, especially when they are in our own backyard.  I think one of the reasons I had no compassion for this population was because it made me uncomfortable to acknowledge that it was a major problem right here in Green Bay and the surrounding areas.  I didn’t want to believe it.  However, we can pray for God to open our eyes and our hearts.  We can pray for courage to step out of our comfort zones.  We can pray to have eyes that see Christ in others.

Maybe there are people that you are struggling to love.  Whether it is the homeless, or another group, ask God to soften your heart.  Pray to be filled with greater compassion and mercy.  When we love others, we love Jesus.  May we all learn to better love the least of these. 

Matthew 25:40

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