MARY

As many of you know living in L.A you meet a lot of interesting people. Today walking to church I met a beautiful(well not according to L.A standards ) woman whose humanity touched me. Prior to going to church in Hollywood I will admit I unnerved by homelessness and poverty. I liked to GO help people, but as far as being with them... I was uncomfortable. Recently talking to a dear friend of mine about her adventures this summer I was inspired to change my interactions with  people(not just populations). As I thought about my walk with Mary this morning I realized that so often I focus on the problem of homelessness and not the homeless. It left me wondering if we can each be a part of reminding the marginalized of their worth, their humanity by asking questions and asking their names? 

People broken....we walk by..... cocooned by our exteriors so different, yet the same. I walk past you cocooned by my own busyness that I miss you, so within your daily fight to exist that you no longer reach out to exist to me. 

Mumble

I stop... what? What's your name?

Mary

I see your eyes, your pain for a moment pours through.

My heart breaks because I see YOU.

Guard up, you're still cocooned in pain... self no longer integrated. 

People stopped connecting with you years ago and you no longer see YOURSELF in our eyes. We see you as a social issue, a marginalized group, but so long ago we stopped see YOU. 

Now your story, stuck inside a mind who you don't still know, and a self lost inside a world out to get you.