I have to say, I may have gotten slightly emotional at hearing these words come out of my 8-year-old son's mouth on our way to church this morning:
We had to stop and wait for the homeless man living under a bridge by our home to pass over the street with his little homeless puppy before we could move ahead in our vehicle.
This started a conversation on how homeless people will often take on homeless puppies for companionship, because there aren't many people who will befriend the homeless. When asked why, we began discussing mental illness, social pressures, etc.
My little Alex said with all sincerity in his voice, "I'll be their friend."
This conversation opened up other "why" questions from our three children sitting in the back seat... One of which was why people are homeless.
As we were talking about the many homeless veterans in our country, this opened up a conversation of war and why we go to war and why people who fight in the war come back depressed and broken, unable to face the horror they faced overseas, and the lack of purpose in their lives now back home...
Many who cannot let go of the images they've seen and the acts they've committed, and many come back feeling worthless and unworthy. This leads to depression and nightmares, which leads to not performing well, losing a job, unable to pay bills and eventually homelessness.
Alex, our main question asker, said with a troubled tone... "But why? They are there to help us! Why don't we give them our money so they can keep their homes and help them feel happy for helping us?"
Tears came, although I was trying not to show... If only we all had this simplistic view, pure love for people and the heart of a child. Imagine what we could do to make our veterans feel like heroes and not like second class citizens, or in several cases, our homeless... Those living under bridges and on park benches.
I'm so proud of our babies... I hope they can keep this pure heart toward people as they grow and mature.
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