Photo by Danie Franco on Unsplash
I thought I would begin my day with reflective music and a coffee,
but it started with hearing a person screaming.
I looked out our living room window to see a tragic sight.
A beautiful young woman was walking down our street.
She was shouting words I couldn’t make out.
She kept hitting her forehead with her right fist.
I wondered why she was doing this.
I could say it’s for this reason or that, but I don’t know.
Her sadness remains in my mind.
What is her plight?
Why is she in such inner pain?
What would need to happen to have her smile?
https://pixabay.com/photos/homeless-man-poverty-male-poor-861899/
I remember a man who screams as he goes down our street.
There is such rage within his soul.
People are terrified of him.
He taunts our landlady’s dog to get him to bark.
He argues with her I know not why.
It’s just what he does sometimes as he passes by.
There are many out there wandering on our streets.
Cold
Alone
Hungry for someone to love and help them, but how many of us turn away?
How many of us look the other way?
I pray we will never turn away from them, even if it is to lift up a prayer to God for their agony to end.
People tell Karen and I that many of these people are addicts.
They’re a bother, bums.
But when I hear judgments cast upon them I ask, “What if that was you or me?”
Many of us are one pay cheque away from not paying our rent.
With the rising cost of living, many of us are not able to afford the healthier diet we had before.
There is a widening gap between the rich and the poor.
If we lost our jobs we could become homeless.
We might become like that woman and man crying out for someone to care.
We are at risk of becoming those judged as being a waste of flesh.
Wouldn’t we want someone to come forward in our community and help in our time of need?
Many might say to us, “Come on. Get off your lazy butt and get s job!”
If one day you should need someone to have compassion for you, I hope that person will say, “I’m here to help. I’ll stay with you until you’re okay.”
Can we do any less for those screaming and struggling souls who come our way?
Dr. Kevin Osborne is the Dean of Psychology and President of Student Affairs for St. James the Elder University. He is s therapist, writer, poet, and singer. He helps people in their inner healing journey. Dr. Kevin Osborne lives in Timmins, Ontario, Canada, with his wife, Karen. She is the Registrar for SJTEU. She is also a counsellor. Karen and Kevin are powned by their 20-year-old cat, Katherine, a.k.a. Her Royal Furriness, Princess Katherine of Timmins.
osborne2029 
Kevin, what a beautifully written and soul-searching article. It touched my heart. I note that you live in Timmins – a mighty cold place. Many years ago, I spoke there at a women’s retreat. It was January, and in a deep freeze. On the bus ride back to Sault Ste. Marie (where we lived at the time), the bus did not warm up until we reached Sudbury. My frosty memories of Timmins.
Rose, I’m so touched that you found the article moving. I am grateful and joyful you reached out to me. You and other Christian writers have been such an encouragement to me. Karen says I’ve grown as a writer. I look back at when I began God’s blog Dreaming Together for a Better World almost ten years ago. It’s a beautiful thing to see where our Father has taken me in my development as a man of God. He’s still working on me to make me who He wants me to be as He is with all of us.
God called us to Timmins for a reason. It was one formed many years ago when I served here as an assistant pastor. Please pray God will reveal what that calling is for Karen and I.
Please feel free to private message me on Facebook. I would like us to keep in touch with you. You helped me to grow as a writer. I believe there is more development God wants for us. We pray we will trust Him more as to where He is leading us.