I've No Idea What This Post is About.

I like old movies. I particularly like movies made between 1935 and 1962. Each era had it's unique charm. Currently I am watching a movie called "Room For One More" from 1952. It is a movie about a family of 5 that takes in two additional kids, not babies, foster kids. These kids are taken one by one out of the orphanage and foster system and brought in to live with a family. It made me think about all the people I have taken in.

When my ex moved out, she left the kids. She didn't take anyone with her and two of my kids were over 18. One of the two got married and moved out and the other moved out on her own. I think it was just me and my youngest for about 6 months, maybe a little longer. In either case, I had a lot of space and people needing a place to stay (always for just a few weeks) seemed to appear out of nowhere and into my life. I think the first one was the homeless psychic vampire and his wiccan girlfriend. Take a moment and think about that. I have literally lost everything and have had two heart attacks and took in two homeless occultists. Now to be fair, I knew the psychic vampire. He had been a friend of one of my kids and he had spent his life in foster care. Once he turned 18 he was thrown out to the streets and the government would not do a damn thing for him.

I was still married when he got kicked to the curb. In fact, he moved to Vegas with a friend and I would check in on him when I went there. I would buy him some food and see how he was getting along. I even went to Vegas and bought him clothes so he could look for a job. His friend inherited some money and they both moved to Seattle; but, once the money was gone, they ended up on the streets. Freezing (literally) in Seattle (as opposed to sleepless) I managed to get a hold of him. What none involved may remember is that he did not call me, I called him and he told me of his situation. I arranged transportation for them all (my young friend and also picked up a female partner along the way, the wiccan). I got them back to the desert where they were from and where they would not freeze to death. I was still married and could not move them in with me; but, did make sure they had a hotel room at least weekly for a day or two as I could afford.

After most had moved out, I moved my young and his partner in to my house with the strict understanding that I was giving the house back to the bank. The divorce resulted in it being impossible for me to pay both alimony and my mortgage. I told them that they could stay until none of us could. I told them I did not know how long till the bank took the property back, it still a minimal of equity and I thought I might be able to sell it. It did not work out that way. I was unable to sell it and the bank, which I called bi-weekly refused to process the paperwork. The divorce happened after the housing crash. I ended up staying in the house for about 3 years. I couldn't leave because they refused to take it back, foreclose on it or seemingly do anything. I submitted all the required paperwork at least 4 times. Every time I submitted paperwork they would not admit receiving it. I had to call them, they never called me and I was not paying my mortgage. Even though I could not pay my mortgage and offered the house back, they allowed me to stay there for three years without paying a penny and they never called or sent letters demanding payment. They just refused to deal with me at all, I had to push the issue and every time I did they would lose my paperwork. I did not lose my house because of the crash, I had a 30 year 4% fixed loan, no fancy financing for me, ever. The court took my money and gave me the house and all the debt that went with it while also reducing my income by a couple grand a month.

That was my situation when I began taking in the homeless. You might focus on what this story makes you think about me; but, that is not what the film made me think about. You see, I ended up taking in another homeless person, another friend of one of my kids. A couch hopper who was about 28. This list of miscreants that I have taken is far from complete. Lots of kids have lived with my family and I over the years, some for a day, some for a week and some for months at a time. I have even taken in cousins. Things changed when I took in the next homeless person. It was a kid, a child, a ten year old.

The wiccan lady approached me one day. Now mind you she was only there because I knew her boyfriend and took him in. She had received a call from a prior partner with whom she had a child and who lived with her prior partner. They were living on someone's couch and the guy could no longer even provide his kid with a couch as the people he was living with were losing there house. After a 400 mile long drive we picked up her son. I believe he is autistic, he spoke little was very smart and was horrible with social rules. I took him too, I didn't want him to have to live on the street or end up in foster care as I knew the horrors that entails.

I am going to point out something. When I finally lost the house all the people who had lived with me had new places to go to. None ended up back on the streets and after I moved into my apartment I had two homeless people live with me at different and for a period overlapping time. In case you are wondering, all of this happened prior to my preaching. I never expected to be asked to preach and I never really preached about it.

I think it mildly irritated my friends (the few that knew) that I was not hyper focused on looking out for myself and was taking in people who had nothing economically to offer. I can say that feeding  and housing all these people while loosing my house may have been an economic challenge; but, we made it.

Now lets back to the real point of this story. The story is not about me, I provide the background information so that if someone chooses to say "put your money where your mouth is", I can say I already did, now it's your turn. While we can have that discussion if someone would like to have their skull crushed, I would rather discuss what it was like for that young boy.

Here was this kid living with his dad and sleeping on someone else's couch along with his dad. Out of nowhere comes this old fool that he has never met to pick him up, move him 400 miles away from his dad (it was actually further as his dad was moving to wherever, he didn't know, he just lost his couch and was probably going to end up on the street himself). I picked him up with his mother in my car and drove him back to my house knowing that I was going to lose the house and not knowing where I would end up or if I would end up living with family or friends.

We got home and for the first time in longer than I know, the kid had his own room. He was problematic at first, he did not wish to follow any rules and that probably made sense to him as he did not know when we would all kicked out and moving from place to place was all he knew. We got him enrolled in school, he ate as well as any of us and was free from any abuse. Not the optimum situation for a young child; but, the best he ever knew. It did not happen quickly; but, he grew to love the stability of the situation as far as knowing he would eat and have a place to sleep and privacy in his room. New experiences for him.

In my home, the young boy enjoyed real birthdays and real Christmases. We may not have bought many presents for each other; but, we all made sure he had Christmas to enjoy. His mother, while far from adequate in many ways, truly cared for him and made sure he went to school and was properly clean even though she herself did not wash enough.

For three years this young boy had a stable middle class life. Sometimes you cannot fix another's world; but, you can provide a respite, an oasis away from the garbage of a uncaring world. After moving out, the psychic vampire and wiccan broke up and the wiccan took her son with her to marry some other person I never met. I do not know what has happened to him and he is probably about 18 now. I still hear from the psychic vampire, once or twice a year.

Here is what I believe, living with me was the best thing that ever happened to the young boy (at least up until then). When people would come by to look at the house while I was trying to sell it, he would get very quiet. He did not want to leave that environment. He told me so and it broke my heart that I could not keep the house even meant keeping the homeless with me. You see, they were not some group of vague "homeless people", they were real people with real lives and real pain and when we could find a way to, experienced real joy.

I read the news on a daily basis, it is the first thing I do when I wake up, even before I have my coffee. I read about Antifa and social justice warriors and think "who are you taking care of, who do you share your food with, who do you share you home with" and I find all they want to do is an Easter egg hunt for fictional Nazis or protest statues of long dead southerners. I read about how people are fixated on taking one knee during the national anthem and think, what are you really doing to help others, how much are you really willing to risk?

I am less concerned with self-righteous people think there is an enemy they need to fight and much more interested in who they are willing to help as opposed to who they are willing to punch. Your righteousness has much less to do with who you are willing to hurt and much more to do with who you are willing to help.

I may not have made that young boys life perfect, but, I improved it for those three years. I may not have made the lives of any of the homeless people perfect; but, I assure you they all remember and I always told them the same thing. You don't have to pay me back or ever say thank you; but, you are expected to show another the same kindness someday. I always told them I never even needed to know if they did it; but, they would know.

The man that asked me to preach at his church borrowed a few thousand dollars from me and never paid me back, nor even tried to. The homeless people I sheltered would give me their bed if I were homeless. There are many of my friends and family that offered me a place to stay for no cost when I lost my home and was severely in debt, a debt created by my ex that took me 5 years to pay off on my own and to which she did not contribute one penny. In fact, she asked me to pay off on time so that it did not hurt her credit. LOL

I listen to the shrill voice of corporate media whores, I mean talking heads, ummm, tv reporters and commentators discussing how much ice cream Donald Trump eats or how evil he is for liking his steaks well done or how we were tricked into voting for Trump and against Clinton because of some Russian Facebook ad that questioned her honesty. I have been accused of being a racist (against blacks and Asians), I have been accused of being misogynist while also being accused of being gay. Mind you, not on this blog; but, good luck with that, I only have about 2,000 posts over 10 years. When you tend to question people's beliefs their reaction is often to question your intent rather than address the issues presented. People that know me don't try that for more than a second because I have the receipts.

There is a story in the bible, the New Testament, it is about a poor woman who left a penny (I am not going to bother explaining ancient Hebrew money, it was the smallest amount that could be traded) for the temple and pious rich gentlemen who left large amounts. Jesus said that the woman had given the most because she gave all she had and the others gave only from their excess, from what they did not need. Not one person who ever worked for me called me a racist, misogynist or asked if I was gay. The people that worked for me never questioned my intent. The attacks that were leveled against me were by people who wished to destroy my reputation; but, they only ever destroyed their own. Enemies and people I never met in person stood up for me because they knew my work and some knew my deeds.

I am apparently still known for a post I made about Pastor Carol Daniels, the anniversary of her death was last month, I almost never remember or recognize the day that people died. I prefer not to blame deaths on the calendar. I only remember one date of death and I try not to think about it; but, it is stuck in my head and is the day before my birthday and the day after my anniversary with my ex. I wrote a post a while back about how disappointed I was in her church for their bigoted anti-gay stance. It is a black church. I am more than happy to challenge those who have hypocritical or bigoted beliefs even if they are black or women or gay or straight or white or anything. I will challenge evil beliefs rather than imperfect people. All people are imperfect, including me. It seems to me that the corporate media prefers to discuss race and sex and whatever rather than policy. That is the definition of propaganda.

Let me ask you a question. Are not white nationalists the worst type of people who are white? I mean, white people who believe they are better merely because they are white regardless of who they hurt, aren't they the worst of white people? Asians who believe anyone who is not Asian is not a person (your really have to look up what Chinese and Japanese people call white people, some call us barbarians and others ghost people). What about black people who believe that all white people are evil, are they the best of blacks or the worst? The assumption that you can judge someone based on their skin color is called racism, doesn't matter what skin color you pre-judge or what skin color you are.

Let me ask this question. How can you teach love if you hate people based on their sexuality or skin color or religion? Or sex? What lesson would the young man have learned if I had been a white nationalist and the only person who took him in and gave him a stable life for longer than he had ever had? By the way, I didn't meet his father till the day I picked him up, I knew absolutely nothing about him, not his color, his creed or his race. I only knew his mother. What perspective do you believe I have on blacks who would only take in blacks?

This may be getting closer to inside your head. I have no respect for bigots of any color. I have no respect for people who limit their love to their color, sexuality, race or religion Don't tell me who others are, prove to me you love all others. You can do the greatest thing possible, you can change lives, you can give others of your scarcity, you can help till it hurts. You can be the woman that gave all she had or the wealthy person who barely gave of their abundance. God does not judge us, he forgives us; but, we do choose who we are. We choose to be loving or selfish. Who do you choose to be and could you change a child's life for the better even if only for a couple of years, not a single present.