News of the shooting of Gabrielle Giffords hit me hard yesterday and my heart and prayers go out to her family and friends tonight. My reaction stems from discovering threats last week on Facebook from a homeless individual we had to ban from our shelter due to drinking and threatening behavior. Last Thursday, before the Tucson shooting, I wrote this to a blog list at Phil's Stock World:
This has been my toughest year of the seven years I have run a homeless shelter. I have banned more people than ever before and we call the police more often. Last week a guy was writing threats to our staff on his Facebook page and a few weeks ago I was told to "F" myself three times in one week. I’ve been working more closely with Parole officers and we all agree that our clients are getting more cranky, disrespectful and taking bigger risks. It is different that two years ago. People just have less to lose. Prospects are dim for jobs so people are more desperate, more likely to turn to addictions and to be violent. I realize this is all anecdotal evidence, but as I look around the world and see Prince Charles attacked by angry English college students, more police officers shot in Chicago than ever before, food riots in Algeria, Greek anarchists blowing up bombs, etc. I think we are seeing the storm clouds gathering.
How quickly these words have become real. It is not easy to explain these events. Some will talk about Sarah Palin and political vitriol that create a climate of violence and others will try to say that this is just an action of one mentally ill individual. We will never know what was going on in the mind of the killer, but what is happening in our world should be more plain to see. People are more desperate and the social safety net is frayed. Pick up a copy of the new Atlantic Monthly and read "The Rise of the New Global Elite."
Last Thursday, my reflections to my friend ended like this:
I’m not one to dwell on doom and gloom, and we are still seeing people turn things around, get jobs and move on. Our placement rate into permanent housing was the same in 2010 as previous years, but we had to work harder to make it happen. We have had to change are approach to help people move forward when it is very difficult to be hopeful. Most people try a few resumes and give up. The ones that make it send hundreds and never give up. One guy landed a job by offering to detail a car for free at a auto dealer. They liked the guy and he got a job. Most people won’t keep pushing. They give up and start the rounds of soup kitchens and the shelter.
My wife just read me a quote from Confucious "Better to light a candle than rant against the darkness." How did she know I was getting glum while typing?
So I intend to light a candle this week for Gabrielle Giffords. I will light a real candle to symbolize my intent to create more light and truth this week, to shine the light of love in the midst of despair. As the Christmas Eve benediction says, "You are the light of the world, so let your light so shine so all may see the glory of God."
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