Mondays Can Be Rough

Ever had a tough Monday? Ya know, the kind where the joys of the weekend are over and now its back to reality, back to the daily grind of work and everyday life. Today was no exception to this ‘case of the Mondays’ for me. I guess the first world/third world conflict just slapped me in the face once again more than anything. You see, Monday is trash pick-up day on my street and so naturally, everyone puts out their trash bins for collection. The difference between the suburbs of America and the suburbs of Cape Town is that every house and yard on these streets is surrounded by a thick wall and heavy duty security system. Most of the walls have electrical wire or broken glass on the top to prevent burglary and theft (both common occurrences). Not the most inviting and neighborly way to do life, right?

Anyways, back to trash day…

When the bins come to the streets, so do the homeless. Every single Monday there are about 7 people on my short walk to the train station who are digging through the trash bins hoping to find something to eat. Did you read that? Digging through trash bins looking for something to fill their aching empty bellies. Think of how nasty your trash bags are and the gross food that you put in them……now think of being so hungry that you will mush your hands through the rubbish to find just a morsel of food to eat….

Every single Monday these guys are here and every single Monday they are hungry. It breaks my heart to know that I will see them again and they will still be empty. I don’t know their stories, I don’t know why they are homeless—whether it is simply because they cannot find a job, don’t possess skills or any sort of education, aren’t proactive in bettering themselves, or are just content to live in such conditions—I just don’t know. But I do know that the stark reality of homelessness and hunger pervades even the suburbs. This place may seem like a paradise on most days, but let us not forget about the brokenness of this world.

In many ways, we are all broken and hungry. Maybe we have enough food to eat, but we are hungry for attention. Hungry for acceptance, for love, for trust, for community, for fellowship, for that next job, for that new car….whatever it may be, we all have a longing in our hearts. Let us not forget those less fortunate than us, let us remember that we all are hungry in some way; that the homeless person on the street may not be that different from us at all…