Invisible Americans

No spiritual journey worth its salt is without its trials.  And we’ve had our share so far, with more to come, I’m certain.

But it is also an opportunity to learn about the lives—and the plight—of others.  I met a woman today, who along with her husband lives in a tent.  They are working poor, thirty-somethings—she is a news producer, and was recently fired from her job.  Her husband is a sound man and gifted musician, but as we all know, creative people rarely are able to make a living in our culture, which values money over people and rewards the greedy, while punishing the kind.  The husband also has serious trouble with his back—trouble enough to require surgeries and metal hardware.  But also considered ineligible for disability. 

Two talented and intelligent people, doing what they can to not only survive, but make the world a better place, reduced to living in a tent in the heat and humidity, without medical coverage, but still hoping to build a better life, a better future.

It makes one wonder how many gifted citizens the U.S. overlooks, ignores, and undervalues every day.  How much potential to be a great nation is lost because of the ignorance and greed of the powers-that-be? Americans are wasteful—not only with natural resources and consumer goods, but with people too.  I fear what our national karma may be if we don’t shift our thinking and begin to live with gratitude, selflessness, kindness and compassion. 

Living here in our little RV, with electricity and a computer and a television, makes me deeply grateful that I am not living in a tent.  God bless them in their journeys and if you’re reading this, hold a prayer forth for all the disaffected, disenfranchised Americans whose belief in the American dream has been shattered, that they may find succor and success, and that they have the strength to continue to not only endure, but to hope.