It's a dark dark world out there

I was out getting my hair cut this morning and spent a while taking to the stylist while she was cutting my hair. The conversation inevitably moved onto work and what I do in my day to day life and I began to talk to her about my work with the homeless. While she was very interested in finding out what my work entailed she seemed not to understand my desire to help or how I could enjoy such work.

As we first began to talk about working with the homeless my stylist presented the usual questions and reactions that people have due to the stereotypes there are about homelessness. Her impression was the same as most peoples is that homeless people are all drug and and drink addled and that for most of them it is their fault and choice being on the streets.

I tried to explain to her the nature and reality of homelessness but for the first real time I came across someone who was resistant to the idea that there could be genuine need and a genuine desire for change in these people. She seemed to hold on to the ideas that she has formed through her life and seemed not to want to listen to any evidence to the contrary.

I was wondering about this when I got home and thought about how many similar minded people there maybe out there in the world. I thought about the fact that part of the problem for the homeless is that many people have ideas about them that make changing their lives and improving their position very difficult. The route of the problem as I see it is a lack of love for fellow men in the world, a lack of a desire to help and a lack of charity. I look round and see a dark world that rejects Christ and rejects all that He stood and stands for. There is a song on my ipod by Good Charlotte called All Black in which there is a line that comes to my mind when I think about this.

"It's a dark dark world and there's evil out there
And you know it's only getting worse"

I see a very dark world out there, I see evil and I can see plenty of evidence too that points to the fact that it is only getting worse. We sit in our comfortable houses in our safe places professing to be Christians. For me I feel that we should be out in the world trying to shine the light of Christ into every possible corner that we can. If we serve Christ we should love all men, we should serve all men and we should show charity to those who need it and help in every way we can. 

I know that it is very easy to say such things and another to put them into action. I know that sometimes we can feel worn down and find it difficult enough to do things for ourselves never mind for those who have neither the will to help themselves or to be helped by others. There are times when I myself want nothing more than to do nothing, to relax and not to have others relying on me for things. But it is times like this that we should look to God for strength and resolve to go about the business we know we should be doing.