Campfires of the homeless

It all started about three months ago along the east side of the Cowlitz river,between Kelso and Lexington near the railroad tracks, a lone campfire and a tent. At first I reasoned it was a fisherman just wanting to find a nice secluded spot in anticipation of the steel head run. But each day as I passed along the highway on the west side I noticed ,whether morning or evening ,the fire never subsided and the camp began to look more and more permanent with a folding chair here and new tarp over there. As weeks progressed I saw a new fire and then another and yet another tent and tarp. My heart ached as I began to know with certainty that this was a growing homeless camp. I had stayed by those same fires most of last year in Seattle and Everett where I was working far from home trying to save money to put my wife through school and find a new place for her and I to live for we had lost our home ,business,and just about everything familiar to us except a small,sweet loving congregation where I preached on Sunday when I returned home on weekends.

I know first hand bathing in a cold river or trying to cook over a campfire with wet wood .Trying all the while to keep clean and presentable as you keep on working hoping your colleagues don't notice the campfire smell that announces your presence like a cheap perfume . The aroma always walks in front of you. Communication is extremely difficult for often campsites are remote and cell phone service spotty or worse yet ,the coverage is fine but you have no power to charge your phone.

Last fall I was camped for a week along the Snohomish river right near the heart of downtown in such a camp where a homeless man had been staying for quite some time. I was rudely awakened about five in the morning by some eager fishermen who had intended to surprise the salmon but merely surprised me as I lay sleeping on the other side of a log, salmon like I remained quiet in my sleeping bag refusing to be roused from my slumber after a rough night and a hard day's work. I awoke a couple of hours later to find a ten dollar bill in my boot that I had left by the fire and I began to cry. Kindness is a rarity for homeless people ,for cruel looks and disparaging remarks abound when your living on the edge of society. People don't know what to do with you so they either make you invisible by treating you with disregard or open contempt.

Homeless people don't want your pity neither are they all beggars, some were just like me just trying to muster a fresh start from the ashes of an economy that fell off the tracks and left them camping beside them. The new homeless don't want you to patronize them either. Just treat them with the same dignity and respect you would offer any one else. Kindness is so appreciated because it is so rare. Many have just gone through severe loss including friends ,family,spouse and former co-workers . People of faith can be especially cruel for like Job's friends they are more interested in diagnosing and assessing your condition than simply loving you back to health. The words of Obadiah v 12 ring out "You should not look down on your brother in the day of misfortune........nor look down on them in their calamity in the day of their disaster .Do not wait at the crossroads to cut down their fugitives nor hand over their survivors.

The new homeless are not drug addicts,losers,or fugitives, they are your neighbors and friends. Don't be complacent or ambivalent towards them because you have not yet been affected by this economic clamity. This carnival ride is far from over for our country and the rest of the world as food riots and the dibilitating civil unrest rocks the globe. No one is secure in this world of uncertainty.You may yet lose your home but lets not lose our humanity. I pray you will not find yourself amongst the campfires near the tracks.